AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine’s top education official says public school districts can now take up to two extra years to implement new proficiencybased graduation requirements if they need the time.
Education Commissioner Jim Rier spelled out six ways to apply for extensions in a letter Wednesday to superintendents.
Under the new system, created by a 2012 Maine law, public schools would ultimately graduate students based on their mastery of eight subject areas — including English, math and science — not just their completion of core credits. The new standards were scheduled to apply starting with this fall’s freshman class.
The Portland Press Herald reports that Rier wrote the extension option was implemented after he heard from education stakeholders concerned about “the complexity of developing quality proficiency-based learning systems.
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