Colleges look for good grades and test scores to assess whether students can handle the academic rigors of postsecondary education. Colleges also look beyond academics for well-rounded students who have other indicators of success. Have they shown initiative, for instance, or a sense of social responsibility? At the Portland Public Schools, we know students need […]

Now that we have all had a chance to see ranked-choice voting in action, can we agree to scrap it and try something else? Personally, I kind of like the idea of an open primary, but then I was all for giving RCV a chance until I saw what a mess it makes. RCV was […]

Thanksgiving is a great day. Pretty much everyone in America is doing the same thing that day: we’re giving thanks to God, we’re feasting with family, we’re watching football and, once the tryptophan kicks in, we’re happily napping. Thanksgiving reminds us we all have a similar past, present and future. We live and die together. […]

“Good parents,” Dr. Jonas Salk said, “give their children roots and wings. Roots to know where home is, wings to fly away and exercise what’s been taught them.” As a young mom, I vowed to raise children to feel grounded in family and prepped to soar. After their births, we swaddled them in tight, safe […]

Nobody was more surprised than Maine Democrats at their own stunning victory in last week’s elections. With the election of Janet Mills as governor, and the party in control of the Legislature, Democrats have suddenly emerged into bright sunlight, after eight years of fighting through a tunnel, constantly reacting to the obstruction and personal attacks […]

Hide the women and children! Lock the doors! Unleash the hounds! Grab your gun! Get to the border! The caravan is coming! Fearmonger-in-Chief Donald Trump used caravan hysteria to rile up his xenophobic base with the specter of terrorists and criminals from Central American about to invade the United States. These scare tactics worked in […]

Now that the election is over, Maine Democrats can get back to doing what they do best: Hating each other. The Democratic Party stayed remarkably united throughout this long campaign, but that unity was artificial, formed not from some common purpose (difficult to accomplish when you don’t actually stand for anything), but by fear. The […]

Crafty politicians often run on vague promises and, once elected, undertake changes the electorate never saw coming. I think of Barack Obama in 2008 promising “hope and change” in the vaguest terms possible. Other times, politicians offer specific pledges during a campaign. They are honest enough to tell voters up front what they plan to […]

Veterans Day is a time for our nation to collectively pause and honor the men and women who have served our country through the armed forces. Recently, there has been increased attention to the many animals who have served in war as well. I like that we do this. It matters that we do this, […]

This is my story arriving at the corner of Congress and St. John streets a month and some weeks after Mohamed Atta departed the Portland International Jetport. I find this first impression disconcertingly persistent: Mainers are unfriendly folk. “From away” became my identity, and this clean cut college-certified pale son of the revolution bristled at […]