PUBLIC EDUCATION IN MAINE TODAY
In 2020, 172,636 students living in 493 municipalities and unorganized territories were enrolled in Maine’s public education system, attending 595 schools across 277 SAUs. This includes the Career & Technical Education (CTE) schools and 10 public charter schools. More than 4,000 students are tuitioned by their school board to a school outside of their SAU, about 2.5% of all public school students. School boards may also choose to not accept students from outside their SAU.
Private schools, numbering more than 100 in Maine, must meet certain state standards of teacher certification, basic curriculum, immunizations, etc. to operate. Of those schools, 45 are considered “private special purpose” which largely serve students requiring special needs, 15 are classified as “private sectarian” and 36 as “private nonsectarian.” Eleven of the nonsectarian private schools each serve a student body of whom at least 60% are funded by town, rather than parent, tuition. In addition to the other rules applying to private schools, they must also participate in statewide assessments and meet the same curriculum standards as public schools.
Until this publication, families looking to find out which Maine towns allow their resident students school choice could not easily access this information in a central database.