(March 30, 2005) Orono, ME – Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins today received a final report from the No Child Left Behind Task Force, on the group's recommendations to improve the implementation of the NCLB law in Maine and the coordination between NCLB and the state's own education reform initiative, the Maine Learning Results (MLR). Task force Co-Chairs Anne Pooler and Leo Martin presented the Senators with the final report today during a press conference held on the University of Maine campus in Orono.
Snowe and Collins created the task force, comprised of Maine school board members, education experts, principals, teachers, and parents, to gain a broader understanding of the challenges associated with implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, a federal education reform law that passed the U.S. Congress with bipartisan support in 2001. The report contains a series of task force recommendations on how implementation of the law in Maine could be improved. While some of the recommendations may require statutory changes, others may be accomplished through regulatory changes or greater flexibility in guidance issued from the U.S. Department of Education. In some cases, the goals of the recommendations may be accomplished through modifications to Maine's NCLB implementation plan.
"We are extremely thankful to the members of the task force for their work on this report. Their findings will help us as we consider changes to NCLB at the federal level, and they will help to guide state policy makers as they consider changes to the state's NCLB implementation plan," said the Senators in a joint statement. "Maine Learning Results and No Child Left Behind are based on a basic principle upon which we all agree, that every child in Maine deserves a quality education and the opportunity to achieve high standards. We will continue working together with Maine educators and parents to ensure that the state's education efforts and NCLB work together to achieve this important goal for our children."
The report details certain challenges that have arisen in the implementation of NCLB in Maine, makes recommendations to improve the partnership between state and federal education initiatives, and encourages further efforts to educate parents and the public about the distinction between requirements established by Maine Learning Results and NCLB.
The NCLB Act aims to increase education accountability for States, school districts, and schools, offer more flexibility for States and local districts in the use of federal education dollars, and support stronger reading programs, particularly for young children. NCLB has also brought a substantial increase in federal funding for K-12 education. In 2001, prior to passage of NCLB, Maine received approximately $58 million in formula funding under the prior statute. In 2005, Maine will receive approximately $92 million in formula funding under NCLB programs. Maine has received approximately $30 million more for the past three years since passage of NCLB.
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