AUGUSTA, Maine — As the nation, and Maine, continue to deal with an ongoing educator shortage, newly secured funding will support new initiatives with goals of supporting teachers in all Maine's counties.
Educate Maine, a nonprofit that works to advance education policies and practices to support teachers and students, was awarded $525,000 in funding through the Fiscal Year 2024 Congressionally-Directed Spending (CDS) appropriations package, according to Sen. Angus King's office.
The funding will allow Educate Maine to further develop its Teach Maine Center, which has a goal of creating a network of educators to share what programs or lessons work well in their classrooms to see if they can be replicated in all corners of the state.
“And that’s what this grant is all about, it’s connecting teachers so they can compare best practices, work together, if a good idea comes up in a school in York County, let’s see if we can get it up to the teachers up in Aroostook County or Hancock [County] or wherever," Sen. King, I-ME, said during a Friday interview with NEWS CENTER Maine.
The funding will also help the center implement the recommendations from the Department of Education's 'Teach Maine Plan', which looks to build a framework to support teachers and work to expand the future of the workforce, according to a release.
The DOE provided initial funding for the center and officials said they are excited to see it grow.
"The recent approval of our CDS request to develop the Teach Maine Center paves the way for us to address the pressing shortage of teachers in Maine,” Jason Judd, the Executive Director of Educate Maine said in the release. This funding will allow us to continue the vital work to grow, strengthen, and diversify our educator workforce.”
King, who during his time as Maine governor launched a state-wide laptop program as a way of introducing students to 'modern technology,' said he knows the value of giving people in all Maine communities the same opportunities.
"If for example, there’s’ a good program that’s working in Damariscotta, let’s see if it will work in Bethel or Presque Isle. It’s an accelerator, it’s a power of education across the state and too often the teachers, the educators are working in isolation," King added. "They’re working on their lesson plans and working day to day, working really hard, let’s have them share their ideas".
Educate Maine also recently launched it's Mobile Mobile BIOLAB program, an effort to get more students in rural school districts interested in STEM education. The mobile learning center has made its way across Maine in the past few weeks and lets educators work with middle school classes and introduce them to state-of-the-art technology and learning methods.