Maine Education Matters With Matt & Matt

Matt and Matt preview the bills up for public hearings on February 25 2019000 200 intro200 440 LD 247 An Act to Increase the Amount of Time School Counselors and Social Workers Spend Providing Students Direct and Indirect Counseling440 830 LD 406 An Act to Establish Regional School Leadership Academies830 end LD 662 An Act to Count Study Abroad toward Secondary School Credit

Matt and Matt preview the public hearings on February 21 These bills are LD404 An Act to Fund the School Revolving Renovation Fund LD557 An Act to Create and Fund the School Revolving Maintenance Fund to Support the Usefulness and Longevity of Public School Buildings LD427 An Act to Require the State to Fund Teacher Retirement and LD589 Resolve Directing the State Board of Education to Adopt Rules Prohibiting Teachers in Public Schools form Engaging in Political Ideological or Religious Advocacy in the ClassroomWe may have something to say about the last one We also did this one by Skype so the sound is a little funky Its all a learning experience thats the takeaway

Matt and Matt review the testimony at the public hearings on February 4 We talk about the following bills LD150 An Act to Improve Attendance at Public Elementary Schools LD151 An Act to Align State Law with Current Practice Regarding Required School Attendance LD63 An Act to Improve Responsiveness of Elected School Boards to the Public LD137 An Act to Make the Maine Technology Learning Initiative More CostEffective LD176 An Act to Enhance Participation on the State Board of Education and LD178 An Act to Increase the State Share of the Cost of Health Insurance for Retired Teachers Also Matt says fascinating about 3 billion times this episode Its a tic apparently

Matt and Matt talk about the upcoming public hearings on February 13 and 14The bills up for review are LD225 An Act Regarding Transportation Management Software and School Bus Replacement LD375 An Act to Promote the Forest Products Industry in School Construction and Renovation Involving Heating Systems LD395 An Act to Protect Access to OutsideofSchool Enrichment Activities LD441 An Act to Reduce Childhood Exposure to Harmful Ultraviolet Radiation by Allowing Student to Use Sunscreen in Schools LD167 An Act to Prevent Food Shaming in Maines Public Schools LD206 An Act to Raise the University of Maine System Debt Ceiling LD388 An Act to Recognize Employee Background Checks Conducted for OutofState Schools Eligible for Maine Tuition Assistance LD470 An Act to Promote Traffic Safety Education in Schools LD160 An Act to Add Instruction in Personal Finance to the Statewide System of Learning Results LD236 An Act Regarding the Use of Unanticipated State Aid for Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education LD283 Resolve Regar

Matt and Matt talk about the testimony in the public hearings that occurred on January 30 2019 Follow us at MaineEdMatters on Twitter and Facebook000 120 Intro120 1710 LD 14 An Act to Improve Science and Engineering Education for Maines Students1710 1900 LD 55 Act to Return the Normal Cost of Teacher Retirement to the State1900 2320 LD 92 An Act to Amend Teacher Evaluation Requirements2320 end LD 103 An Act to Ensure the Integrity of ForProfit Colleges

Matt and Matt preview the bills up for public hearing on Feb 4 LD 150 An Act to Improve Attendance at Public Elementary Schools LD 151 An Act to Align State Law with Current Practice Regarding Required School Attendance LD 63 An Act to Improve Responsiveness of Elected School Boards to the Public LD 137 An Act to Make the Maine Learning Technology Initiative More CostEffective LD 176 An Act to Enhance Participation on the State Board of Education LD 178 An Act to Increase the State Share of the Cost of Health Insurance for Retired Teachers

This episode Matt and Matt get into the language of each of the first seven bills coming across the Education Committee We talk about our initial thoughts of each one of these whether we think they are good ideas some worries and concerns about them if we have them and the general timeline of what happens next Let us know what you think Follow us on Twitter at MaineEdMatters and on Facebook at Maine Education Matters with Matt and Matt Rate and review us and definitely subscribeOn January 30 at 9am the following bills are scheduled for public hearings LD 14 An Act To Improve Science and Engineering Education for Maines Students LD 97 Resolve Regarding Legislative Review of Portions of Chapter 38 Suicide Awareness and Prevention in Maine Public Schools a Major Substantive Rule fo the Department of Education LD 98 Resolve Regarding Legislative Review of Portions of Chapter 122 Grant Application and Award Procedure Fund for the Efficient Delivery of Educational Services a Major Substantive Rule of the Department

This week Matt and Matt break down the titles of the education bills for the 129th Legislature not the language mind you Just the titles This one gets very silly as we are only talking about the titles we have no other informationFortunately language will be coming out as the bills start to get public hearings Well talk about them when it happensFollow us on Twitter MaineEdMatters and on Facebook for more info

Matt and Matt talk about the new Commissioner of Education and the newly announced Education Committee Who are they and what are their backgrounds

Matt and Matt finish their talk about LD1666 DEEP dives into proficiency and the language of the bills We get pretty specific about things and its a long one Enjoy Follow us on Twitter MaineEdMatters and give us feedback Facebook too

Matt and Matt wrap up 2018 kind of with some prognostications and talk about some things late in the year we may have missed Mainly some rule changes and its super exciting For reals Follow us on Twitter at MaineEdMatters and on Facebook for more If you listen all the way to the end youll get lots of nonsense As usualLaws are tough MDC

Matt and Matt finish up their discussion of ESSA in Maine with an extended talk about what chronic absenteeism is and how it affects schools and a dive into the tiers of support and some confusion around what they are Follow us on Twitter at MaineEdMatters and let us know what youd like us to discuss

Matt and Matt interrupt their series on all things Maine Education related to give you a heads up on standards review and specifically the science and social studies review out for public comment right now Follow us on Twitter at MaineEdMatters

Matt and Matt continue their series on ESSA this week focusing on the school report cards the indicators of school success and what it all means It can get very confusing especially the student growth section Some riveting talk about points and how it seems weighted towards high achieving kids What are those implications Follow us at MaineEdMatters on Twitter and review us on iTunes

This week Matt and Matt start their discussion of what ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act means to Maine education They start with a history of what this act is where its been what its for

This week Matt and Matt conclude their series on Chapter 180 by talking about peer supports and mentoring

This week Matt and Matt discuss SLOs Student Learning Objectives and how they relate to teacher evaluations There is a lot there including some ambiguity about peer evaluations

Matt and Matt discuss what teacher evaluation looks like in Chapter 180 What are the basics of the system

Matt and Matt continue their discussion of LD1666 and explore the differences and confusions with proficiencybased EDUCATION PBE and proficiencybased DIPLOMAS PBD Lots of confusion out there

Matt and Matt have an emergency The DOE has put out a priority notice comparing the two types of diploma systems in Maine and we thought it was worth interrupting our series on LD 1666 to give you our thoughts Find the notice here Give us your feedback on Twitter Facebook etc Wed love to hear what you think