Education innovation on display in Maine
By U.S. Sen. Angus King
(I-Maine)
If our students are going to keep up in a rapidly changing world, we need to think about education in new and bold ways.
That was the realization I had as governor when I launched the Maine Learning Technology Initiative to provide every middle school student in the state with a laptop computer. Since then, the relationship between technology and education has changed faster than anyone could have predicted, except maybe Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. If our students are going to compete in a world where the only constant is change, we must continue to develop innovative approaches to education.
We have some shining examples of education innovation in Maine. Just last week I was at Thornton Academy in Saco to help announce a new, forward-thinking partnership between the high school and the University of New England (UNE) that will allow qualified Thornton graduates who complete the necessary coursework to enter UNE with sophomore standing.
This agreement is only the second of its kind in the state – the other exists between Thornton and the University of Maine College of Engineering. These partnerships represent a big step forward. UNE and the UMaine College of Engineering are essentially offering Thornton graduates a 25 percent discount on the cost of a college degree.
We have students graduating college today with so much debt that it often amounts to a mortgage – but they don’t have a house to show for it! In this troubling reality, we need to find more affordable ways to deliver the product of higher education, and that’s exactly what these partnerships will do.
Others in the state are also taking a lead in exploring new ways to deliver education in innovative ways. For example, the Bridge Year Program – a partnership between regional Career & Technical Education centers, high schools, and the University of Maine – permits high school students to earn up to 30 credits at the University of Maine over the course of their junior and senior years.
Bridge Year enables the students to complete an associate’s degree, through the state community college system, in one year’s time following graduation or to enroll in a four-year program as a sophomore. Operating with strong support from the state legislature and the governor, this program is allowing students in Maine to develop important life skills and earn college credit at a serious discount.
While the Maine Department of Education and schools are certainly playing an active role in education innovation, Maine businesses are also getting into the mix.
Look no further than Arundel Machine and Pratt & Whitney in York County, two manufacturers that have been engaging in educational partnerships with various local schools and technical institutes in order to help students develop hands-on experience and technical skills. Through a combination of internships and collaborative coursework, Arundel Machine and Pratt & Whitney are working to educate a future generation of Maine manufacturing workers.
These partnerships and programs all recognize the same truth: if Maine is to grow and succeed in an increasingly complex world, the way we deliver education to our students must be as dynamic as the world into which we’re sending them.
