I had no idea the blog had gone quiet for two whole weeks - the number of words I type on a daily basis has certainly increased, not decreased...but they've nearly all been in the service of trying to line up a first site for a Maine Enterprise School.
InnovationMaine started in June as part of a consulting and advocacy contract with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools that ran it's course Dec. 31. I do intend to keep writing; how frequently I can post we'll have to see. But with the last bit of proposal writing done for now, I find myself with a few minutes to reflect: what has changed in the six months since I started writing, what's the same, and what might the future hold?
Friday, January 21
Friday, January 7
5-year High School Program
Bill Nemitz' column in this morning's PPH quotes Governor LePage saying, "I believe we need to create a five-year high school program in Maine where students can graduate with an associate's degree as a heads-up in going into the workforce or as credit toward a four-year degree at the university or college level." After yesterday's announcement that he intends to make it as hard as possible for both documented and undocumented immigrants and refugees to feel at home in Maine, I was relieved to see something both positive and substantial.
Having worked briefly an Early College High School start-up at Lorraine County Technical College in Ohio, I can attest to the potential - and the challenges - of such approaches. We've learned a lot since then, and the governor and Mr. Fitzsimmons of the Community College system are wise to build on the work of North Carolina, which has gone the farthest and had the most success with this model.
Mr. Fitzsimmons points out that the NC implementation "began with a $21 million grant from the Gates Foundation and each year the legislature allocates $19 million for those new 'early colleges.'" Mr. Nemitz concludes by saying, "'good luck with your base when they realize what it takes, alas, to turn a good-but-complicated idea into simple reality. It's called 'state spending.'"
I'm not so sure - at least not at the levels of North Carolina. I not only think we can do something "good-but-complicated" for far less money, but do so more effectively. Though I was unaware of the 5-year high school design team formed by Mr. Fitzsimmons, it sounds like they're largely on the right track. The question, as Mr. Nemitz points out, is how we get there and how we pay for it.
Having worked briefly an Early College High School start-up at Lorraine County Technical College in Ohio, I can attest to the potential - and the challenges - of such approaches. We've learned a lot since then, and the governor and Mr. Fitzsimmons of the Community College system are wise to build on the work of North Carolina, which has gone the farthest and had the most success with this model.
Mr. Fitzsimmons points out that the NC implementation "began with a $21 million grant from the Gates Foundation and each year the legislature allocates $19 million for those new 'early colleges.'" Mr. Nemitz concludes by saying, "'good luck with your base when they realize what it takes, alas, to turn a good-but-complicated idea into simple reality. It's called 'state spending.'"
I'm not so sure - at least not at the levels of North Carolina. I not only think we can do something "good-but-complicated" for far less money, but do so more effectively. Though I was unaware of the 5-year high school design team formed by Mr. Fitzsimmons, it sounds like they're largely on the right track. The question, as Mr. Nemitz points out, is how we get there and how we pay for it.
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