Over the past several months I have worked to improve education in Maine in several ways. In addition to legislation that I have discussed previously to advance civics education, I have also worked to secure state funding for capital improvement projects at our overcrowded elementary, middle and high schools here in Gorham and expand representation among our University of Maine System Board of Trustees to include a seat for the Wabanaki tribes. All of this work tackles shortcomings in our education system to help create an environment in which every Maine student can thrive.
Prior to representing my community in the Maine House, I served on the Gorham School Committee for three years. During my committee service, Gorham consistently grappled with the challenge of too few dollars available for school construction projects. In fact, while our state as a whole has an aging population and declining workforce population, Gorham has a growing population. As a result, school crowding has been an issue in our town for two decades. The last time Gorham received state school construction funds was in 2005 to build Great Falls Elementary. The school is now overcrowded and students are being shuffled around to other elementary schools and learning in portable classrooms. The middle and high schools face similar challenges.
A growing number of communities across Maine are waiting in a long line of worthy applicants to receive state dollars for school construction needs. Since the last funding cycle for school construction projects in 2017-2018, the Maine Department of Education has approved funding for less than 7% of these worthy applicants.
This session, I sponsored a bill, LD 650, to separate debt service payments for capital construction projects from GPA funding for schools, which received strong support from Rep. Mo Terry and Sen. Stacy Brenner. While the bill was not ultimately successful in committee, Gorham residents can rest assured that we will continue to fight for funding so capital improvements to our schools can accommodate our growing population.
In addition to constructing schools, we need to think about who is invited to the table in making decisions about education in our state. That is why I co-sponsored LD 453 which creates an open seat for the Wabanaki on the University of Maine Systems Board of Trustees.
Most people born and raised in Maine are rightfully proud of this fact. In fact, Mainers have developed phrases and expressions around this identity. For example, if you’re not from here, you’re from “away.” Even those born here might not be real Mainers because, as the saying goes, “just because a cat has kittens in the oven don’t make ‘em biscuits.”
The Wabanaki people have been here for thousands of years. These “First Mainers” would be the dominant population in these lands today had it not been for European settlers and colonial violence. Survivors were subjected to centuries of policies in housing, public health and education that further stripped them of autonomy and agency. One way we can address these wrongs is to restore Wabanaki representation in education.
According to the National Conference of State Legislators State-Tribal Institute, Native students perform two to three grade levels below their white peers in reading and math, and they are 237% more likely to drop out of school. Only 7% of Native American kindergartners are projected to earn a bachelor’s degree, while the projection for white kindergarteners is 34%. What’s more, Native American students are 207% more likely to be expelled than white students.
We must grapple with this history of violent institutional racism and the resulting socioeconomic inequalities and disparities that persist. LD 453 is an important step in that process by making seats available to Wabanaki representatives on state boards and commissions where important decisions are made that directly impact the lives and native lands of First Mainers. This includes the Board of Trustees that oversees Maine’s land-grant university and institutions across Maine that now occupy native Wabanaki lands.
Thank you for the honor, privilege and opportunity to work for our students and schools and for justice in the Maine House of Representatives.
Rep. Kyle Bailey, D-Gorham, is serving his first term in the Maine House of Representatives. He owns his own business and is a member
of the Gorham Business Exchange. You can reach him by emailing kyle.bailey@legislature.maine.gov or calling (207) 939-8600. For immediate assistance, please send a text message.