Maine House Republican Jim Campbell Drops Party Affiliation

AUGUSTA, Maine -- Minority Republicans in the Maine House have lost a member. Rep. Jim Campbell of Newfield said Thursday he's withdrawn from the Republican Party and will become the only legislator with no party affiliation. That leaves the House with 95 Democrats, 55 Republicans and one unenrolled or independent member. The Senate also is controlled by Democrats.Campbell said his move was a long time coming. He said he's frustrated with the Republican Party in Maine and nationally for failing to address the health care crisis in a meaningful way.

BALDACCI MAY HAVE FOUND A WAY TO DECENTRALIZE EDUCATION WITHOUT CHARTER SCHOOLS

One of the curious things about the charter school movement - and one that hints of its anti-union subtext - has been the small number of public schools that have been turned into charters within the system. If the system works so well for private corporations that run charters, why not for public schools as well? Maine, which has resisted charter schools may be moving towards this under-used option as this story recounts

Kennebec Journal, ME - The Baldacci administration is drafting legislation to allow schools in Maine that have more autonomy over their budget, curriculum, staffing and scheduling than traditional public schools.

The move to allow so-called innovative schools would stop short of legalizing charter schools, while potentially boosting Maine's standing in a national competition for $4 billion in education innovation money.

Gov. John Baldacci will introduce a bill this winter that provides a way for school boards to open or transform existing schools into innovative schools, according to state education officials.

Administrators in these schools would have increased flexibility to hire the teachers they want and have others reassigned to different district schools. The administrators would also have increased control over budgets, more freedom to design curriculum and flexibility to stray from the traditional, six-hour school day and 175-day academic year.

In exchange, those schools would have to demonstrate to the school boards that authorize them that they are raising student achievement. . . More...

By Matthew Gagnon on Tuesday, December 15, 2009

We have been saying Collins was a no on this bill for a long time now, but we are not beginning to see the Senator herself more or less confirm this.

In today’s Washington Examiner, Collins told Byron York that she believes this bill is simply too flawed for her to support, and her continued activity on the bill is more a matter of trying to improve it as much as possible, even if it won’t ultimately get her support.

Collins:

“I don’t see voting for the current bill that is on the floor, even with the improvements that have been made,” Collins said. “I’m very leery of the impact of nearly $500 billion in Medicare cuts, particularly the cuts in home health care, which are completely counterproductive to the goal of lowering costs.”

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