We provide a forum for creative collaboration among all stakeholders to enable an ongoing renewal of education in Maine to meet the common and diverse needs of children, families, education professionals, and communities in Maine now and in the future. No matter one’s politics, listening to educators, young people, and employers tells us that we can do better. This doesn’t take away from the hard
work of educators and others who have dedicated their professional lives to nurturing the younger generation in schools. In truth, there are many successes. Yet, why are so many educators and district leaders leaving the profession? Why do so few of our students feel their education is preparing them for life? These are urgent questions that need not only to be asked; they need to be answered and addressed, along with questions around topics such as equity in funding, schools shouldering society’s burdens, and the purpose of education. Only by addressing issues and obstacles can we overcome them. Maine needs and deserves a world-class education system. Building it will take creativity, collaboration, and sustained attention. Let’s get started. What are our shared beliefs? Polarization and partisanship are an unfortunate part of our national civic life. However, our commitment is to work in good faith with anyone and everyone who shares these guiding beliefs:
> An effective preK-12 education system* is critical to American society and our democratic way of life.
> We must acknowledge that our current preK-12 system is not meeting the needs of too many students, families, and communities. Maine needs to ask hard questions about why.
> Renewal of the system is urgent.
> Controversial issues in education need to be discussed, and the respect, empathy, and open-mindedness we teach in school should prevail.
> The best paths forward will emerge from the collaboration of a diverse set of stakeholders. Parents have a crucial voice in the conversation.
> Professional educators and educational leaders at all levels are a key to thriving schools and a thriving system.
> Students learn differently from each other and are born into a great variety of life circumstances; therefore, a variety of approaches and environments are needed for all students to thrive and become contributing members of society.
> While meaningful renewal takes time, we need to make room for those who want to move ahead more rapidly. We can learn from their experiences.
> We must be comprehensive and inclusive in our search for what works. Promising new ideas and practices can be found within Maine’s full preK-12 landscape and across the world.
* Maine’s prek-12 system includes local public district, public charter, and public magnet schools, as well as homeschools, independent schools, and town academies. How do we see our work impacting Maine’s education system? We can’t be what we can’t see. We need to see renewal as necessary and possible, and we need to see specific examples of what school could be in Maine to inspire local visions and the hard work of realizing them over time. Education-focused organizations also need a way to network locally and statewide to learn, avoid duplicative efforts, and collaborate on larger scale projects. Below is our theory of action the drives our work. Ed Forum of Maine facilitates a healthy dialogue about the need for renewal, holds space for stakeholder learning and collaboration, and promotes a variety of promising solutions from Maine’s schools and across the world. We do this so that education stakeholders may have an understanding of the need for educational renewal, a supportive network to leverage strengths and build capacity, and access to a variety of promising solutions, with the result that students will experience school as meaningful and beneficial, graduate better prepared for college, careers, and civic life, and contribute to a healthy Maine community and economy.
