News

The Working Waterfront posts an article on a gubernatorial forum held in Rockland by the Maine Islands Coalition and the Island Institute. In the forum, Eliot Cutler reiterated his promise to solve issues facing Maine’s coastal and island communities:

“Island communities, coastal communities on the coast of Maine, places where so many of us live, are the soul of this state. And beyond anything else that I’ve said today … when I leave office after four years or eight years, I want my term to be measured more than anything by whether I have done enough to maintain, in tact, the islands and coastal communities of this state. I commit that to you.”

You can read the full article here.

Maine Public Broadcasting aired a feature on Eliot Cutler’s plan to eliminate the Board of Environmental Protection. Cutler said that the way that Maine’s environmental regulations are enforced needs to be fixed in a way that protects the environment and incourages investment:

“Someone who wants to build or do something in the state of Maine usually has to get a permit or a license from the Department of Environmental Protection; and they can go through the entire process and get the license and permit and then someone who doesn’t like the result can petition a citizen board to take over the matter, go all the way back to square one or go off the tracks, It stands like a red light at the gateway to the state of Maine and it keeps out investment. We don’t need to have it and I want to get rid of it.”

You can read a transcript of the piece here.

The Bangor Daily News reports that Eliot Cutler outlined a series of education reforms in a speech to the Waterville Rotary Club yesterday. Cutler’s proposals include charter schools, a longer school year, rewarding teacher performance and merging the university and community college systems. You can read an excerpt below:

Independent gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler outlined a proposed education reform package on Monday that includes lengthening the school year and allowing public charter schools in Maine.

Cutler, who is one of five candidates for governor on the November ballot, said Maine needs to “throw open the windows and welcome a fresh wind of innovation and reform” into its education programs.

You can read the full article here.

The Portland Press Herald posts an article on Eliot Cutler’s plans to reform education in Maine. Cutler met with the Waterville Rotary and discussed his plans to :

lengthen the school year, allow charter schools, tie teacher pay to student performance and merge the university and community college systems to improve education in Maine.

You can read the full article here.

CONTACT:

TED O’MEARA

ted@cutler2010.com

207.699.4401

or

MONICA CASTELLANOS

monica@cutler2010.com

207.699.4401

WATERVILLE, Maine – Saying student achievement should not be a matter of chance, Independent candidate for governor Eliot Cutler outlined a series of education reforms in a speech to the Waterville Rotary Club this noon. Cutler’s proposals include charter schools, a longer school year, rewarding teacher performance and merging the university and community college systems.

“We need to reform public education in Maine from top to bottom, so that our kids can graduate in Maine, find good-paying jobs in Maine and live in Maine,” Cutler told club members. “We need to kick open the doors, throw open the windows and welcome a fresh wind of innovation and reform. We need a No Excuses policy for education in Maine.”

Cutler offered the following reform initiatives in his speech:

• Provide developmental screening to all pre-school children and services to those who need them. He said the performance benchmark will be the number of children who are reading proficiently at the end of third grade, and that “we will cut our failure rate by more than half by the end of my first term as governor.”
• Allow public charter schools and districts, as 40 other states have done. These are free, public schools that operate substantially free of traditional collective bargaining rules but subject to a negotiated performance contract among students, parents and teachers. “Many charter schools have fostered dramatic innovations in the quality and delivery of cost effective education, and Maine can learn from these experiences,” he said.
• Create more statewide magnet schools that introduce students to the excitement of higher education and apprenticeship programs before they graduate and inspire meaningful careers. “I’ve visited with the students at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone, an exciting learning community that is consistently rated one of the top high schools in the nation,” he said. “Let’s find the resources for magnet schools in foreign languages, agriculture, marine sciences and creative arts.”
• Reward good teacher performance with higher pay, instead of the present system in the State of Maine, where teachers get tenure after two years and lock-step salary increases for 20 years. “Teachers’ compensation is based on seniority, not performance, with no distinction permitted between those who teach effectively and those who do not,” Cutler said. “Let’s start to look at how much a student is improving each year and reward those teachers, teams and schools that are improving student progress.”
• Institute a longer school day and a longer school year. Maine is one of only 8 states in the country that still have a school year of only 175 days. “In China, the school year is 225 days, and our kids will need to compete with Chinese kids and others from around the world,” he said.
• We will recommit ourselves to a strong new partnership between our high schools, community colleges and industries to reinvigorate skills training and create a new generation of legendary Maine workers. “Maine’s skilled and dedicated workers always have been one of our greatest competitive advantages, but the average age of those in our skilled workforce is moving into the early 50s,” Cutler said.
• Make better use of technology, provide more clinical and professional training for teachers and enhance the role of our schools as community centers.

It’s time to put taxpayers, parents and teachers back in charge of education,” Cutler said. It’s time to make what’s right for kids – and not the union contract – the standard by which we judge what we do in our schools.

In terms of higher education, Cutler reiterated his call for a merger of Maine’s university and community college systems. “Let’s have one governing body and one chief executive for both systems. Let’s improve efficiency and reduce the unnecessary duplication of programs,” Cutler said. “A more centralized model will allow both community colleges and four-year university campuses to collaborate to offer sequenced, affordable programs in a variety of specialized programs. “

Cutler closed his remarks on education reform by noting that American education has long been the envy of the world, but with the rising cost of college, higher education is becoming affordable for fewer people. He said focusing on greater coordination, cooperation and operational efficiencies, Maine can begin to bend the cost curve of higher education and ensure that a quality education is within the grasp of every student.

Eliot sat down for an interview with Michelle Anderson from political community As Maine Goes. The interview — part of the North of Bangor series — focuses on issues important to communities in Northern Maine. Please see the below links to the two-part interview:

PART 1: Gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler: Click Here to listen

PART 2: Gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler: Click Here to listen

Hi!

As governor, I will be ready on day one to start tackling the major issues facing Maine. Job one: lowering the cost of living and doing business in Maine so we can attract the investment that will create jobs and economic opportunity.

I am the only candidate who has put forth bold plans to reduce the cost of electricity, reduce the cost of healthcare, and reduce the cost of government – high costs that have helped bring our economy to a standstill.

We can do this. We can make Maine the comeback state of the decade. But first, I need your help, and I need it today.

When I began running for Governor more than a year ago, I knew a winning campaign would require mobilizing supporters who love this state as much as I do – people who care more about Maine than any political party. People from all over Maine have helped us put together a grassroots effort. People like you are hosting events, marching in parades, writing letters to the editors, volunteering in our offices and calling their friends and neighbors.

But successful campaigns also cost a lot of money, and the biggest part of any campaign budget is television advertising. We have had a great ad running for much of the summer, and I am pleased to let you know that we are going back on television today with a new ad. Take a moment to watch it below:

Please contribute $10, $50, $100 or $250 – whatever you can afford right now – to help us get my message out and to build the support we need.

Thank you for your support,

P.S. The election is just 70 days away. Help us continue the momentum that has been building all summer long (the maximum allowable contribution per individual and business is $750).

The Times Record posts an article on a debate held at Bath City Hall. Eliot Cutler, who was joined by Democrat Libby Mitchell and Independents Shawn Moody and Kevin Scott, discussed his plans to lower the costs of living and doing business in Maine by reducing the costs of healthcare, electricity and government.

To cut government spending, [Cutler] proposes forming a group structured similar to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission. That panel would review and cut state programs and agencies based on its findings, without amendment by the Legislature or governor’s office.

You can read the full article here.

The Bangor Daily News published an editorial on Eliot Cutler’s plans to streamline state governance. The editorial discusses Cutler’s plans, including eliminating the Board of Environmental Protection and increasing funding for the Maine Tourism Office, praising his specificity and his willingness to make investments as well as make cuts.

Cutler has set the bar high with the detailed structural changes he is proposing, both in economic development and in higher education, which he announced previously. If — when — the other candidates promise to remake state government in a leaner, more efficient manner, they must match this level of specificity.

You can read the full article here.