3 min read

The first day of school is just around the corner. While this is an exciting time for students and teachers alike, it also takes an enormous amount of work to prepare classrooms and curricula. At a time when the test scores of Maine students are in decline and our teachers are struggling to ensure that their classrooms are fully stocked with necessary supplies, my colleagues and I made a number of investments to aid Maine students — at all education levels — and work toward giving them the schooling they need to be successful.

When we passed the supplemental budget this year, we made sure to include a provision that increases the minimum salary of Maine teachers to $50,000 by fall of 2029. This raise will be phased in over the next three years, ensuring the raise does not shock the budgets of Maine towns and taxpayers. This increased minimum salary will help teachers afford to live and raise families here in Maine, as all people should be able to do. It may also help make up for the fact that many teachers pay out of pocket to ensure their classrooms are fully supplied. The latest federal data from the 2019-20 school year showed that 94% of Maine school teachers bought supplies for their classrooms with their own money without receiving any form of reimbursement. While this is a larger problem that still needs to be addressed, the increase in minimum salary will help cover this additional expense.

To help Maine students afford education after high school and prepare them as they begin to pursue careers, we also made the state’s Free Community College program permanent. This program has proven extremely successful in increasing the number of Maine students who enroll in higher education, and it will continue to help ensure that the next generation of Maine students enters their chosen careers with less debt.

Finally, my legislative colleagues and I made several changes to school funding to make education fairer in the state. We changed the school funding formula for the first time in 20 years, increasing support for many of Maine’s rural school districts. By directing additional state resources to many districts, the new formula may also help ease pressure on local property taxpayers. Our supplemental budget included a one-time $8 million investment to help stabilize school districts with high percentages of economically disadvantaged students, providing a bridge to a more equitable school funding formula that better reflects student need. Additionally, we fully funded the state’s share of K-12 education at 55%, keeping our promise to municipalities across the state, and further lightening the load on town budgets.

I believe one of our greatest duties as legislators is to ensure that our students have a solid educational foundation from which they can build their futures. That foundation is shaped by the teachers in their classrooms. Maine’s future depends on the generations of students in school now and in the coming years. I’m proud of the investments we made in our students and our teachers, and I look forward to continuing to support our education system in the coming Legislature. If you have any questions about our work in supporting education or would like to learn more about anything at all, please do not hesitate to reach out. You can always email me at [email protected], or you can call my office at (207) 287-1515.

Sen. Denise Tepler represents Maine Senate District 24, which includes all of Sagadahoc County, plus Dresden in Lincoln County.