Thoughts on Education

By Kit Harrison

Additional Column Posts (1 - 20 of 50) Next Page

• Support Question 2 to give Maine students a competitive ...

  By Kathreen Harrison - Oct 27
  Maine should move decisively to join the nationwide movement prioritizing global education and the study of world languages in K-12 schools. These ...
  

• Spending money wisely on schools

  By Kathreen Harrison - Oct 06
  I came to a realization recently that stopped me dead in my tracks: many outstanding teachers in our public schools suffer daily from deep ...
  

• The state needs to provide equity in education

  By Kathreen Harrison - Jul 07
  I read with dismay Jake Bleiberg’s June 24 story in the Bangor Daily News about the poor condition of four of Portland’s elementary schools – ...
  

• Guide to a cheaper fix for schools

  By Kathreen Harrison - Feb 04
  Roland Barth, leading writer on education, suggests that a key ingredient to improving schools is regular, school-focused, honest, mutually ...
  

• Social services in the schools

  By Kathreen Harrison - Dec 24
  The December 10 issue of the paper included an excellent editorial by The Courier-Gazette Editorial Board titled "Facing poverty in Rockland." The ...
  

• Squandering the energy of teachers

  By Kathreen Harrison - Sep 24
  I have worked in schools where teachers will stand up and leave an important meeting the minute the clock reaches the end-time specified in the ...
  

• Losing the best teachers impoverishes schools

  By Kathreen Harrison - Jul 23
  The effectiveness of schools rests on the shoulders of teachers, and when we lose the best teachers before retirement age, we diminish the ...
  

• Voter turnout crucial at Thursday's school budget hearing

  By Kathreen Harrison - May 18
  The Rockland City Council and the Courier-Gazette have rightly urged the residents of the towns of RSU 13 to attend the very important school ...
  

• My child - and yours - deserve an education equal to that of ...

  By Kathreen Harrison - Feb 05
  Educators in the state of Maine are currently consumed by the transition to standards-based curriculum. Local districts are focused on creating ...
  

• Common Core is a guide, not a blueprint

  By Kathreen Harrison - Dec 04
  The Common Core should be treated by school districts as the draft of a guide for curriculum development rather than as a blueprint. During the ...
  

• Stand up for Students offers a chance to help struggling ...

  By Kathreen Harrison - Oct 13
  Through the Stand Up for Students ballot initiative, Maine has a chance on Election Day to help less-affluent school districts provide a quality ...
  

• Use school buildings to offer mental health, other services

  By Kathreen Harrison - Jul 21
  Maine has an opiate and heroin addiction crisis, and it’s impacting our children. Some of them are born addicted; others suffer the results of ...
  

• Time for global competency education in Maine

  By Kathreen Harrison - Feb 25
  The insensitivity toward cultures other than his own demonstrated by Gov. Paul LePage’s Feb. 11 "joke" at the expense of a Chinese man and his ...
  

• Rethinking education: Resolutions for the new year

  By Kathreen Harrison - Jan 07
  In the spirit of the new year, here is my list of wishes for children and schools across Maine. • Let’s equalize the playing field. It is morally ...
  

• Don't drive creative teachers out of the schools

  By Kathreen Harrison - Oct 01
  We should not rob our schools of our most creative teachers We are driving excellent teachers out of the profession with our insistence on ...
  

• Adopt a backpack, feed a child

  By Kathreen Harrison - Aug 06
  Food insecurity means not being able to count on three meals a day, and according to the Area Interfaith Outreach Program, "food insecure" ...
  

• Educational quality rests on the backs of teachers

  By Kathreen Harrison - Jul 09
  In the heat of budget travails, as well as in more tranquil times, school board members and school administrators should remember that it is on ...
  

• Legislature delivers educational mandates, but won't foot the ...

  By Kathreen Harrison - Mar 05
  The Legislature in Augusta passed LD 1422: Proficiency-Based Diplomas in May of 2012. This law requires students to demonstrate proficiency in all ...
  

• Technology is not always the answer in schools

  By Kathreen Harrison - Jan 29
  For better and worse, our species has a new toy -- technology -- that consumes a great deal of attention both in and out of schools. In schools, ...
  

• The biggest elephant in the schoolhouse: poverty

  By Kathreen Harrison - Nov 13
  Among wealthy reformers and others who have little experience with the reality of a classroom, it has become sexy to blame teachers for the low ...