By Rep. Matthew Pouliot
Last year, Maine took an important step forward by implementing a statewide A-F grading system for schools. Now parents, school leaders and policymakers have access to clear, easy-to-understand information about the quality of schools across the state.
As someone who believes that all of Maine’s students should have access to a great education, I am a strong supporter of this policy. We should stand behind this new reform and help our kids by maintaining and further improving our A-F school grading system.
In my time in the Legislature, I’ve learned that high-quality information is the cornerstone of good decision-making. And that’s why A-F school grading is so important. It allows school leaders to simply and easily compare schools to identify best practices, as well as determine whether schools are getting better or worse from year to year.
It’s a common-sense policy that’s a clear win for kids.
Yet there has been substantial opposition, particularly from several of my colleagues in the Legislature and administrators of low-performing schools. They are concerned that A-F school grading will reflect poorly on them.
That view demonstrates misplaced priorities. After all, shouldn’t our policies be determined by what’s best for kids, not adults?
If we stick by our A-F school grading system, we can create a system that focuses on our students, and our students ultimately could make those same gains.
Yet we should go further. There are still several steps that Maine should take to improve how we grade our schools.
• Maine should enact our A-F grading system as law. It currently exists only as an administrative regulation implemented by the state Department of Education. By passing a bill that mandates the system, we can guarantee that all education stakeholders have access to high-quality information about Maine’s schools today and in the future.
• Maine should consider enlisting an independent company to evaluate our schools under the A-F system. As we all know, having our government complete this crucial function introduces the possibility of political bias. A third party, however, would help to ensure that grading of schools is independent of political forces.
• We should expand the report cards to include data about school budgets and how programs are linked to student achievement. Especially in a time when resources are limited, it is essential that we look at whether our investments in education are paying off for kids. After all, how can we make our schools better if we don’t know which strategies and initiatives are working?
Maine already has the system and structure in place to do this. By improving the fiscal transparency and accountability of our schools, we can help our schools improve even faster.
The Department of Education should be applauded for its efforts to implement A-F grading thus far. But we still have a long way to go to create a policy environment that sets up all of Maine’s students for success.
Maine has many great schools, and many incredible teachers. However, if we are serious about giving all of our kids access to the same high-quality education, we have a lot of work to do. Maine’s students and families deserve nothing less.
Rep. Matthew Pouliot, R-Augusta, serves on the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee. This column originally appeared in the Jan. 28 Waterville Sentinel.
