Liveblogging the Education Committee’s Work Session on the Race to the Top bills, Part 4
Are we going minimal here?
The question from House chair Sutherland: What are the parts of these bills that we MUST pass in order to be eligible?
The answer from the commissioner is the part of 1799 that allows Maine to connect student achievement to individual teachers and LD 1800, the common core standards bill, must be passed, innovative schools are an option.
Will the committee simply go with the absolute minimum in order to be eligible?
If Rep. Finch’s short speech to the committee is any indication, we may not even do that. “Is Maine for sale?” he wondered out loud.
In short, he is not prepare to “sell” Maine for $75 million, so he will vote against LD 1799, one of the two bills MUST pass for Maine to even apply for an RTT grant.