State Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, who serves on the Legislature’s Education Committee, said while it is within the legal right of the commissioner to overrule local school districts, he disagrees with the commissioner’s approach. He said the commissioner repeatedly said during meetings across the state that he would respect the education field.

“He is not respecting the field. He is saying he doesn’t care what they think,” Alfond said.

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Click here to read more from the Bangor Daily News.

Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, a member of the Legislature’s Education Committee, said one way to make best use of limited resources would be to ensure that training materials created with funding directed at struggling districts be made available to all school systems.

State education officials must “ensure that all teachers have access that I believe will be incredibly powerful information about best practices in our classrooms,” he said.

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Click here to read more from the Bangor Daily News.

I want to thank the Charter Commission for all the heavy lifting you have done thus far. You were given a huge task and have done a tremendous amount of work against some tough odds.

Your timeline has been unrealistic, you’ve had no budget to speak of; when you’ve asked for expertise, you’ve been given none and the governor and his staff have been relentless in their lobbying to approve as many charters as possible. Despite this, you have done your work deliberately and with integrity to ensure the best possible outcome for students.

Charter Schools are state law and I’m interested in making sure that the best schools are created for students. I’ve read the Baxter Academy of Technology and Science application and I’m impressed. There is a real passion for learning, strong emphasis on curriculum and assessments and real world experiences. To ensure this vision is completed and done right, I stand before you to urge a one-year delay of the Baxter Academy of Technology and Science.

One of the major hurdles to opening Baxter Academy is the time frame. It is almost impossible to open and build a school from scratch in two months. Baxter acadmey would need to retrofit a old building, hire experienced STEM teachers and market to and recruit 160 students in 60 days.

Let’s first take the renovation of a 54 York Street. As of today, no construction has been done. I understand why BA and Rufas Deering Lumber Company would not want to hammer a nail until the application is approved, but here is my take of renovating buildings from experience. I’m an owner and have been involved in renovating three old buildings in Portland. They range from 15,000 sq/ft to 50,000 sq/ft. There are major hurdles to overcome including getting approved by different parts of Portland’s planning division. There are multiple inspections, Americans with Disabilities Act certification, health code, etc. — the list goes on and on. I am simply not convinced the renovations could be completed in 2 months.

Next, BA in their applications is suggesting that they hire eleven teachers in 60 days. In their application they state “classroom teachers will need a bachelor’s degree in a STEM related field and a strong online record of innovative and challenging in a public or private school setting for at least two years.” The classroom description goes on for seven or eight more sentences and my belief is that it will be hard to hire this caliber of teacher in 60 days without adequate notice and a thorough hiring process

Finally, BA will market and recruit 160 students in 60 days. I realize that the newness of charter will attract some students BA’s way, but the application spends only two paragraphs spelling out how the academy will market and recruit students. There main tool is online through their Facebook page and website. Online marketing is a great tool, but it has it’s limitations and I just don’t think 60 days will produce the 160 students they are projecting.

The second reason why BA should be delayed is their financials don’t support opening a school at this time. BA’s financial budget is very risky, is overly optimistic and is filled with potential mistakes. BA also appears to not have any plan for a reserve account and all the grants appear to be unrealized at this time. All of these issues could be more solid if BA had another year to plan and prepare.

The nature of any startup means there will be many challenges. Sound financial planning is essential in any startup and I see no mention of a reserve account for BA. This is a big red flag for me. The last thing we want any Maine charter school to experience if a quick closure because of the lack of financial resources.

The financial section of the application shows the risk of the applicant. BA must use a line of credit to start up and cover unanticipated costs. These phrase unanticipated costs is an appropriate one because there are so many moving variables when you are trying to do something in two months. For example what happens if there are construction cost overruns, what happens if BA does not meet it’s goal of recruiting 160 students, and what happens if only one or two of the grants are successful? Other questions that I would want to know is: How much is the line of credit for? What collateral is being used to secure the line of credit? BA’s budget is also showing a year 1 surplus of almost $329,000. I’m not sure how anyone could predict this type of result in any business with this many risks. Finally, there are many potential mistakes in the budget lines. Some lines are blank and others seems low, but what really caught my attentions is how BA per-pupil allocations equals $9,000 a student. When I was at the Deering HS State Charter Commission event it was said the per pupil allocations would be around $7,000. Unless that has changed, we could be looking at a $320,000 mistake.

Finally, the budget shows $295,000 of grants in year 1. I’ve searched the BA application and never found a list of the grants. Having started up a non-profit it is very challenging to get grants before you have any track record. BA not only does not have a track record, but they are requesting foundation funding before any students has officially committed, any teachers are tendered a contract or even one nail has been pounded for the renovation of the building.

My final reason for the delayed of BA is that schools need more time to prepare for the loss of state aid. Portland has a huge potential shortfall coming this fall due to students going to BA. I think it would appropriate for the taxpayers of the region to have one more year to prepare for this. As you all know, school budgets have been adopted and passed at this time and the potential loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars to budgets that are already cash-strapped is not
something most school districts can accommodate.

It is because all of these reasons that I urge the State Charter Commission to delay BA application. BA could be a great school, but I think it’s unrealistic for anyone is the room to think that their strong plan can be implemented in sixty days. I urge you to approve their application with the contingency that Baxter Academy be allowed to open in for the 2013-2014 school year, and I look forward to working with all of you to make Baxter Academy the best school it can possibly be.

Others said the bill would have created a “voucher” program that sets a bad precedent.

“Siphoning taxpayer money to pay for religious education undercuts Maine’s public education,” said Assistant Democratic Leader Justin Alfond, who also serves on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee. “Schools are already being asked to do more with less and taking money away from our public schools will result in cutting programs and lost opportunities for our students.”

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Click here to read more from the Bangor Daily News.

Taxation Proposals:

The Appropriations Committee, along with members of the Taxation Committee, met with officials from Maine Revenue Services to discuss the new tax exemptions brought forward in the supplemental II proposal.

The sales and use tax proposals include a wood harvesting and horticultural exemption with a reduction of $350,000 in revenue in fiscal year 2013, rising to nearly $1 million per year in subsequent years. The committees had several questions regarding the logic of implementing further tax exemptions when faced with a current budget shortfall.  Several had many questions regarding the vagueness of the proposed language, especially around the wood harvesting provisions.  Rep. Martin pointed out that a similar proposal came forward last session which paired this exemption with job creation which was vetoed by the Governor.

The department also outlined a proposed medical equipment exemption for positive airway pressure machines (also called CPAP).  The committee asked questions regarding who is paying for these machines particularly if the bulk of buyers are Maine residents, insurance companies or other third parties.

In regard to income tax changes the department outlined an income tax exemption for active duty military pay for residents stationed outside of Maine starting in 2014.  The second proposal seeks to increase the current private pension exemption from $6,000 to $35,000 in the next five years starting in the next biennium.  During the discussion the department estimated that by FY 19 this proposal will result in the loss of $105 million in revenue per year.  The committee again questioned why proposals with no impact on the current biennial budget are being brought forward in an emergency supplemental during the last month of session.

DHHS Proposals:

The committee was joined by members of the Health and Human Services committee and received a briefing from Commissioner Mayhew regarding various DHHS proposals in this budget.  The two major items the committee focused on were the proposals around General Assistance and funding changes to the state’s two psychiatric facilities.

The budget proposes a series of changes to General Assistance.  The three major changes put forth are:

• making those who receive TANF benefits ineligible for General Assistance;
• restricting housing assistance through General Assistance to no more than 90 days per calendar year and
• reducing the reimbursement rate for all allowable expenditures to 50% for all municipalities.

Currently, communities are eligible for up to 90% reimbursement if they have extremely high General Assistance use in a year. Portland is the largest community receiving General Assistance and gets close to $4 million each year from the State. The City additionally contributes $2.6 million per year. The HHS Committee pointed out that these General Assistance needs will not go away, and that the reduction in reimbursement to towns will simply be a tax shift to local communities.

The Commissioner then outlined a proposed change to the funding model for the state’s psychiatric facilities.   The department believes that due to a proposed rule change (and possibly past rules) that the state’s funding method using federal funds must be changed.  The result of that change would require an additional $10 million in General Fund dollars to replace the loss of federal dollars through the funding change.  The committee questioned why the department is moving so fast in reaction to a proposed rule change?  Such fast action has not been the normal procedure of the department especially for a rule that has not yet been adopted.  The committee requested further information regarding this rule change including any documentation about the rule change and the timeline for its proposed implementation.

Department of Education Proposals:
Commissioner Bowen outlined his new spending and cuts for the supplemental budget. The new spending initiatives include $5 million for the Fund for Efficient Delivery of Educational Services, $850,000 for refurbishing school buses, $185,000 for the state charter commission and $450,000 for Jobs for Maine Graduates.

The cuts include: $1.7 million to the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, 1% across the board cuts to Maine’s Public Higher Educational Schools ($1.7 million to the UMaine System, $554,000 to the Community College System, and $86,000 to Maine Maritime Academy). 

Finally, the Governor has a ton of big policy in the education portion of the supplemental budget — dramatically changing Child Development Services by eliminating the regional boards and all local control at the nine CDS sites and strengthening the ability for public schools to bring in kids 3-5 years old from the CDS sites. Also, the Governor re-institutes the Fund for Efficient Delivery of Educational Services. This new fund will be a mini race-to-the-top competitive grant that funds experiments around regionalization, professional development, choice options and more. The fund will accept request for proposals and be judged by three staff from the DOE who will score and then distribute the funds to schools.

Lawmakers on the committee said too much work needed to be done on the choice bill. Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, said the proposal was “not ready for prime time.”

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Click here to read more from the Lewiston Sun Journal.

Democrats on the committee said they were pleased that the LePage administration’s education proposals were not rammed through.

“I think what the committee’s vote today showcased was a rejection of the governor’s extreme education proposals,” said Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland. “The committee agreed that he put forth complex public policy and we didn’t have time to vet it. We felt it was more appropriate to go after the data and facts we need in order to do better work next session.”

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Click here to read more from the Bangor Daily News.

Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland, said the amendments to the bill made it much more palatable, particularly language that allows due process in the event a teacher is given poor reviews and terminated.

“Of course, we’d like more time to look into this, but they are on a time schedule that is different from ours,” Alfond said, referring to the LePage administration.

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Click here to read more from the Bangor Daily News.

In an effort to mollify these concerns, the Department of Education added language that says educators can’t be removed if questions of bad faith taint the ratings they receive. As the committee prepared for a final vote, the other big outstanding question concerned money. How, in a time of tight finances, are local districts going to be able to afford ot implement these new systems?

“My question is, if you’re either a minimum receiver or a school district that gets just above a minimum receiver amount, who would pay for it?” Asked Justin Alfond, a Democratic state Senator from Portland. “Is it the local community then would be straddled to pay for whatever the cost to develop and implement the evaluation system?”

Esssentially, yes, answered Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen. It may not have been what Alfond was looking to hear. But it didn’t stop him and the 13 other lawmakers on the committee from unanimously moving the bill on to the full Legislature.

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Click here to read more from MPBN.

The State of Maine just recently finished a new priority competitive request for proposal for new major capital improvement. Seventy-one schools applied for the opportunity to replace one or more schools in their district (see list here). Five Portland schools applied (Hall, Longfellow, Reiche, Presumpscot, and Lyseth). Hall received the most points based on many catagories and finished 12th overall. The Maine Department of Education identified six schools to be funded in this round. It is very unlikely that Portland will receive any state funding for major capital improvements.

On a brighter side, the State also has a school revolving renovation fund (SRRF). The State is poised to announce that the fund has $10-12 million available and requests for proposals will be open again this spring. Hopefully Portland will submit strong SRRF proposals. The SRRF was created by Maine Legislative action in 1998. SRRF was established in order to provide funding assistance to School Administrative Units (SAUs) to ensure that Maine’s students have a safe, healthy, and appropriate learning environment. The SRRF provides assistance where SAUs have identified needs in the areas of health and safety, building systems, learning space upgrades and small-scale capital improvements.