To the editor:
Gov. Paul LePage said in his Nov. 2 BDN OpEd that the passage of Question 2 would not improve K-12 education.
Now that Question 2 has passed, the Legislature should accept the governor’s challenge and dedicate all the Question 2 money to address statewide early childhood education — literacy, in particular.
There were 6,456 Maine fourth-graders from low-income families in the 2013-2014 academic year, according to the state’s 2014-15 No Child Left Behind report. About 46 percent of these children did not achieve proficiency standards in reading. A lack of reading skills will cripple their progress in school and diminish their chances for success as adults.
The Legislature needs to accept the challenge of early childhood literacy and do something bold and meaningful instead of politics as usual. It should come up with a new funding formula for the Question 2 money. The new formula should be based on the number of economically disadvantaged children without regard to property taxes, race or citizenship. The new formula should distribute the new money solely to improve literacy in public schools, starting with early childhood education, because all of our children deserve an equal opportunity to a good public education.
Stephen Freeman
Presque Isle
