maineissue

The Big Debate in Maine
• Total enrollment in Maine public schools, K-12, has declined from 250,000 in 1970 to about 200,000 today. It is expected to drop to 177,000 in this decade. • The median Maine high school has 400 students; 19 have fewer than 150 students. • For the 20 largest high schools, it costs $6,385 per student. For the 20 smallest, it costs $10,306 per student. • Larger high schools are much more likely to offer advanced placement and other specialized courses. • The average Maine teacher earns less than $40,000 a year, while the U.S. average is $46,572. Some states spend less per pupil, yet pay their teachers more. //from "Summary of Key Points" by Maine Children's Alliance, available at// [|http://www.mainechildrensalliance.org/am/publish/educationinitiative.shtml]

What's a State to Do?
Read the "Summary of Key Points" put out by the Maine Children's Alliance. It's available at: http://www.mainechildrensalliance.org/am/publish/educationinitiative.shtml

Read at least three of the other articles linked to that Web page. There are news articles and editorials all related to this issue. There are also recent local articles about it that you could choose to use as one of your three articles: http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/3545341.html http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/3587291.html http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/3588300.html

Create a posting in your blog with a Title of "Maine Issue Summary". In the posting write a one to two paragraph summary of the facts and the issue based on the reading. This posting should be facts only but can include factual restatements of opinions expressed in the editorials. Feel free to write it in a word processor to take advantage of grammar and spelling checkers, after you are satisfied that it's your best writing, you can just copy and paste it into the blog.

Create a second posting titled "Maine Issue Reaction". In this posting describe your reaction to the problem and the proposed solutions. Be honest but be persuasive. Convince the reader that your opinion is the best option. Is there a solution that you agree with? Why is it the best solution? Compare it to the other proposals. Or describe a solution of your own.

Create a third posting titled "Maine Issue Personal Impact". Think about the year 2012 or later. You'll be teaching in the classroom and maybe whatever solution is decided upon will have been in place for a while. What will be the impact on you and/or on your teaching? Will it be good for you? for your students? Why or why not?