Maine lawmakers question education chief over failing early childhood program

Lana Cohen Staff Writer

Lana covers education for the Portland Press Herald. She joins the Press Herald from VTDigger, where she covered Chittenden County, Vermont’s population center. Previously she was a Report for America fellow in Mendocino County, covering environmental news for a digital outlet and a public radio station. She also reported on the environment for digital news outlet, WhoWhatWhy. In her spare time Lana enjoys hiking with her Goldendoodle, Rigby, running, surfing and baking.

Latest

Published
December 5, 2023

Maine lawmakers question education chief over failing early childhood program

Legislators called the Child Development Services agency ‘broken.’ Education Commissioner Pender Makin said little to ease their concerns.
Published
November 24, 2023

Maine students are missing more school days than before the pandemic

Chronic absenteeism rates are more than 10 percentage points higher than the 2018-19 school year. Experts say resources to get students to class aren’t back on track.
Published
November 23, 2023

Buxton man arrested following report of shots fired on Commercial Street

Mohamud Abdullahi, 30, was charged with reckless conduct, refusing to submit and assault.
Published
November 23, 2023

Bringing Thanksgiving to Portland’s homeless

Volunteers band together to deliver on the promise of the holiday, showing those less fortunate that they haven’t been forgotten.
Published
November 21, 2023

Portland struggles to staff its special education programs

The director of special education says 11 of the district’s 17 special education programs have at least 1 vacant position and that program leaders are spending most of their time working to bring in new employees.
Published
November 19, 2023

Shut out: How the Deaf community was forgotten during the Lewiston shootings

Four deaf people were killed and five others were injured when Robert Card opened fire at Schemengees Bar & Grille. But for hours afterward, interpreters were kept out of critical information sharing.
Published
November 14, 2023

Portland school district rebuilding its finance and payroll systems

The overhaul of the district’s finance department comes after a breakdown in the payroll system last year that resulted in hundreds of employees being paid late and in the wrong amount.
Published
November 11, 2023

Advocates say success of housing program for homeless veterans in Maine shows the systems can work on a larger scale

State and national efforts to end veteran homelessness showcase the potential to solve homelessness for all people.
Published
November 7, 2023

Portland mayor to be decided in ranked-choice runoff; Mark Dion leads

The final unofficial tallies Tuesday night showed Dion was leading with about 40% of the vote, triggering a ranked-choice runoff that will be tabulated Wednesday morning.
Published
November 6, 2023

Struggling UMaine System sees some bright spots

Enrollment at the system’s 7 campuses is declining less than expected and students are taking more credit hours, which also helps the bottom line.

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