Legislators responded favorably to public testimony in support of a bill to include Franco-American history in the state’s school curriculum.

Rep. Brian Bolduc, of New Auburn, sponsored LD 77 – “An Act to Include the Study of Franco-American History in the System of Learning Results.”

During the bill’s work session, the legislative Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs voted to amend and support the bill’s intention by changing it to a Resolve.

“The Resolve directs the Maine Department of Education to create a pamphlet to present to teachers to use as a resource guide where teachers want to teach Franco-American history,” says Bolduc.

Public hearing testimony on Feb. 7 wes largely in support of teaching Franco-American history.  Supporters including educators and cultural advocates explained the lack of knowledge evident among Maine citizens regarding the state’s French history.

Even among Franco-Americans, the knowledge deficit is evident, says Rita Dube, executive director of the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston. She said many Franco-Americans grew up without learning about their heritage.

“College students frequently call me to seek information about Maine’s French culture,” Dube said.

Committee member Rep. Richard Wagner of Lewiston asked if curriculum resources are already available for teachers who want to teach Franco-American history. A resource pamphlet called for in the Resolve will provide just such a teacher reference list, says Bolduc.

University of Maine President Robert A Kennedy provided written testimony to support Bolduc’s bill, which was read to the committee by Prof. Anthony Brinkley.

“For Maine to prosper, it is essential that we know who we are. To ignore Maine’s Franco-American reality is like forgetting that Maine has a coastline,” Kennedy wrote.

Brinkley commented on Kennedy’s statement. He explained how many students at the University of Maine are “hardly aware of the French history in Maine.”

“The Franco-American reality in Maine is a historical reality,” said Brinkley.

Bolduc said Gov. Paul LePage, a Franco-American, told him he will support the intention of the education bill. In fact, Bolduc briefly met with the governor about the bill, prior to the committee vote in work session.

“Governor LePage was supportive of the effort when I met with him,” said Bolduc.

Additionally, the Resolve approved by the legislative committee should not have to carry a fiscal note, said Bolduc.

A model for developing a teaching resource is already available from the University of Maine at Fort Kent, says Lise Pelletier, director of the Acadian Archives there and a member of the Acadian Congress 2014, in Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.

Pelletier says in 2010, Dr. Doris Metz led a curriculum instruction class from UMFK in collaboration with the Acadian Archives. The purpose of Metz’s program was to bring together community resources to design an age-specific teaching guide about the local history of Maliseet Native American settlements in Maine’s St. John Valley.

Community development methods used to create the St. John Valley curriculum could be applied to design similar programs about Franco-American history for use in other parts of Maine, she says.

Bolduc is pleased his education bill was well received by legislators on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee. “I am pleased with the amended result,” he says.

“My bill did better than last year, when it was defeated in a committee vote but came close to passing in the full House of Representatives,” he says.

Although Bolduc’s amended Resolve is likely to pass in the Legislature this time around, he intends to re-introduce the full curriculum bill again during the next legislative session, he says.

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