Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced this week that six educational institutions in Maine will be receiving a combined total of nearly $1 million to “recruit, train and retain” educators.
The institutions set to receive these grants include: Brunswick School Department ($105,000); MSAD 1 ($75,000); RSU 34 ($249,000); Portland Public Schools ($250,000); University of Maine Farmington ($144,000); and University of Southern Maine ($162,000).
All together, these six schools were given a total of $985,000.
$375,000 of this was funded by the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan — Gov. Mills’ plan to invest nearly $1 billion in federal funding that was intended to help Maine recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These schools are expected to “partner” with the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) and the Maine Department of Labor’s (MDOL’s) Registered Apprenticeship Program to “pilot new educator apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs.”
According to the press release, fifteen funding applications were submitted between the program’s announcement in August and the mid-September due date.
Grants were awarded “with a focus on increasing representation in the education sector among rural communities, people of color, and multilingual learners.”
The Maine Apprenticeship Program currently has 1,382 apprentices and 411 participating businesses.
These six grants represent an expansion of a program originally launched at Washington County Community College and the Gorham School District in response to the MDOE’s Teach Maine plan first released last year.
“As the daughter of a longtime public school teacher,” Mills said in this week’s press release, “I understand the deep and lasting impact that teachers have on their students, schools, and communities.”
“Helping Maine educators advance and grow in their careers is not only good for them, but it is also good for our students and can lead to better outcomes for everyone in the long-term,” she said. “I am pleased we are putting funds from my Jobs Plan to use to help Maine schools find the teachers they need and support educators on the path to fulfilling careers as they make a difference in the lives of our children.”
“The Maine Department of Labor works with employers to fulfill their workforce needs and works to connect Maine’s people to high quality jobs,” Laura Fortman — Commissioner of the Maine Department of Labor — said.
“One way that we do this is through mutually beneficial registered apprenticeships,” Fortman continued. “Registered Apprenticeship is an excellent training model for schools to use, as it supports those already working in Maine’s schools to advance down the path of becoming a certified teacher, while continuing to earn an income.”
“The Maine Department of Education is committed to ensuring that everyone who wants to become a teacher in Maine has a pathway into the profession and is supported in the classroom,” said Pender Makin, Commissioner of the Maine Department of Education. “Teacher apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships offer a meaningful pathway to recruit, prepare, and support aspiring educators and we are excited to see these programs expanded across our state.”
Click Here to Read Gov. Mills’ Full Press Release
When Mills first announced the program in August of this year, she explained her belief “these apprenticeship programs are important to help educators take the next step in their careers.”
“Using funding from my Jobs Plan, we will help Maine schools find the teachers they need and support educators on the path to fulfilling careers as they make a difference in the lives of our children,” Mills said in a press release published over the summer.
[RELATED: Mills Admin Announces New Initiative to Expand Educator Apprenticeships in Maine Schools]
This new, multi-million dollar program comes shortly after the MDOE’s launch of the “Live and Teach in Maine” campaign — which functions as a partnership with the non-profit organization Live and Work in Maine — in an effort to attract more public school teachers to the state.
The two entities previously announced a partnership last September giving all school administrative units free access to the organization’s online job board.
In a press release, the MDOE explained that the campaign “includes a highly targeted advertising effort, new videos highlighting teachers who have chosen to make Maine their career destination, and events in-state to welcome, connect, and celebrate educators.”
As of now, it still remains to be seen whether these and other taxpayer-funded investments will be effective in improving the quantity of educators available to — and the quality of education for — Maine students in the years to come.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="24068 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=24068">8 Comments
About the equivalent of restoring power to 12 houses on Tuesday.
Maine public ed is awful, and no, not the fault of educators living in genteel poverty
“Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced this week that six educational institutions in Maine will be receiving a combined total of nearly $1 million to “recruit, train and retain” educators.”
…heck, why all the big dollars to ‘recruit, train and retain’! All Jackboot Janet had to do was advertise on TikTok!
Can anyone tell me or point to a place that lists ALL the objectives for each grade 1 – 12. This would be a list of the requirements for each course covered and required to pass in each grade in order for the student to go to the next grade. IF there is no such thing, then these $$$ would have been a start for a project to do this. These objectives would be available for ALL to see once developed. Teachers would be REQUIRED to teach using a lesson plan that ensures coverage of those objectives.
Maine has always under paid their teachers. And Biden’s inflation made it worse1 tO MAKE A BETTER USE OF THE COLLEGES PLACE THE ILLEGALS IN THE DOMATORIES.
My understanding of how things work in Maine is that “seat time promotions” are the rule. There are no academic performance requirements to pass and move on to the next grade “up.” No one ever gets held back, left back, or whatever else you want to call it.
You can be functionally illiterate….unable to read or write….and get your High School Diploma.
Pender Makin’s last job before becoming the overseer of gender expansive education and all the other major priorities in the state was as Assist. Superintendent in Brunswick.
I like this quote from the Gov: ““I understand the deep and lasting impact that teachers have on their students, schools, and communities.”” You’d think an attorney would recognize the ambiguity in this declaration. Over 60 years ago, my Freshman Composition Prof in college would have bled red ink on this and added “reword for clarity.”
Sadly, the deep and lasting impact many teachers have is that they are unable to teach students mastery of the basics in the 3 R’s. That “deep and lasting impact” sets you up for a life of underachievement.
And don’t say we need to pay them more. That suggests teachers aren’t giving their best, but will stand up and say if you pay me more, I’ll do a better job teaching your kids.
If giving their best isn’t their natural posture, they should be replaced. And made an example of.
More taxpayer dollars to be wasted on public education which is basically dead. Advertise for politically conservative teachers with a traditional work ethic and values who believe in merit-based pay and won’t be required to join a teacher’s union would be a good start. Otherwise, it’s just another phony attempt at solving a problem that progressives themselves created.
Yes! Currently, the worst teachers make the same as the best teachers, and vice versa.
That is grossly unfair to both, to taxpayers, to parents, and especially students.
There is no incentive to pursue excellence in any material sense, just like in politics.
Public servants? Spare me that, please.
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