Public Schools In Maine.... (Portland, South Portland: fit in, how much, affordable houses)

[irishmom]

My husband's job is relocating to Portland, ME. I have been looking at areas for affordable houses and comparing them to the schools in the areas. It seems that there are great differences in the qualitly of the schools from town to town. I am using greatschools.net to compare, they use standardized test scores and parent ratings to rate schools...they also report No Child Left Behind status.

Can anyone tell me how the schools in Lisbon are? Also are Auburn schools really as bad as their ratings are? Poland Schools are also rated very poorly. The thing is we aren't looking at super cheap houses or super cheap areas, so I'm wondering why the schools are rated so poorly.

Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated. I have one son who will be entering kindergarten in Sept, and one who will be entering 6th grade. I want to live somewhere where all levels of public school are good...elementary, middle and high school.

Thanks so much for the help!

[Acadianlion]

Educating children in Maine is getting to be a more and more hot topic. Maine cannot afford the educational system that it has because the funding for the public schools is tied to the residential property tax base in each town. Until this system is changed, and the state pays more of its share of the program costs that it mandates Maine's systems are going to be faulty. Whether or not they are better or worse than any other place is a matter for considerable argument though.

The Federal Government has severely dropped the ball in the "No Child Left Behind" program, and many of the other Federal programs for education have quietly been dropped or modified over the past few years. I am suspect of any method of rating schools based on a standardized test because I doubt that standardized testing does much more than test the ability and motivation of the person taking the test.

Our town meeting on Saturday revealed that the student/teacher ratio was about seven to one. That would tend to indicate that our school should achieve the highest rankings in the universe. But that statistic wasn't entirely accurate, as it included ALL personnel in the school, including coaching, art, music and so on. So while statistics don't lie, it is possible to lie with statistics.

My daughter is planning to move back to Maine with her children. She will probably do so in the next year or so, and I suspect that she will live whereever she can find a good living environment that she can afford and then will enroll her children in the local schools. Like you, she will do her research on line, but then will actually come and visit the school and talk to the teachers and administrators to make a value judgement of her own.

I suggest that you do the same thing. Go and interview the teachers who will be meeting your children. Look at the school and talk to the principal and see what seems to be a good fit. The best choice that you make may well have nothing to do with the kind of town price of the house you buy.

Once there, be prepared to roll up your sleeves and help the local school with the education experience of your children. Don't look for an "Easy Button": it's going to be a tough job raising and educating children here, and everywhere and the parent who expect "the schools" to take care of it, aren't going to like the result.

[dennis s]

Acadia Loin, You always have great, honest info about Maine. I have a five year old daughter whom I wanted to raise and educate in Maine. After reading many negative articles about the system in Down East and here we have decided not to.

On another topic, I have encountered some very shallow minded, non thinkers and big talkers on this forum and it bothers me a lot. You ,on the other hand, have always been honest and to the point and correct. You don't "spew" and put down other people. I cannot believe that you have such a low "REP". There is something really wrong with this system.

Administrator; I hope you get to read this someday and figure out the problem.

[irishmom]

Acadian Lion...thank you for your input. If you have any information on how difficult it is to commute to work in the winter can you share that as well. I'm sure since snow is a regular part of life there that systems are in place to deal with it quickly and efficiently for main roads, but how do local roads do? And how often are schools closed for snow days? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[Unhappycamper]

I live outside of Lisbon and had to choice to go to the high school there. I chose not to because it has built a reputation for high drug use. I know a few people that went there and they say they did not like it that much, too much negative influence. I am not sure about the teachers though. But I am sure like most schools the teachers are good and it comes down to the students will to learn. I know people that go to the Auburn schools and they like it. Edward Little has a great computer program i hear and the sports teams are good.

[Submariner]

Acadianlion - Good post.

Spending six weeks each year focused exclusively on practicing the standardized tests seems a bit much to me. [three sets of two weeks each, so the students are well practiced on the tests]

With a son in highschool currently, I am appalled at the conduct of the counselors. It appears that they decide which students they will encourage and line-up for college, and the rest of the students are openly told that they are worthless and will soon be on welfare.

I did not believe this when a neighbor first told me this was his experience in the local highschool. However I have now heard this story repeated from others. And while talking with the last two young girls who dated my son, I was reminded of those stories I had heard from local adults.

The complete picture of public education in Maine is a complex picture.

[Valinmaine]

"The complete picture of public education in Maine is a complex picture."

Truer words were never spoken. We moved to Cumberland 3 years ago from Bridgton, mostly for the commute and the quality of the schools. My daughter was entering Kindergarten and my son, seventh grade. Although I have questioned some of their methods, overall, the schools are quite good. Most teachers are willing to go the extra mile in helping a student. On the other hand....My son chooses to be a non-conformist. He refuses to wear whatever clothes are dictated as "stylish" and his hair is long. While I applaud his ability to be himself, the school environment is particularly harsh to those choosing not to embrace current trends.

Yup, I should have seen this coming...and didn't. If you elect to live in a town that has a substantially higher per capita income than most of Maine, be prepared for this.

Right now, I am looking for town within a 45-60 minute commute of South Portland that has a decent school system, but is a bit more forgiving to those that choose not to follow the crowd. Any suggestions?

[irishmom]

Valinmaine - I don't think that you will find kids anymore accepting of a child who is not mainstream in any other area...except maybe the East Village, NYC...but that's another story (born and raised in NYC).

I have nephew who is 14 and is much the same as you describe your son. He has had social problems because of it also. I think although it is nice to encourage individuality, it can also benefit a child to learn to fit in with a crowd. In the real world he will have to find a way to cope and deal with fitting in so he can work and live in society. That doesn't mean he needs to change his style...just that he needs to learn to fit in anyway. You might try to encourage him to tone down his outside differences a little and be a little more outgoing so that those kids get to know him as a person instead of as the kid who is different. This worked for my nephew, and now he's back to his individual self, has friends and likes school again. Hope it works out for you.

Oh and I am still wanting to know if Lisbon is ok for schools...there's a property we are intersted in there...but have no idea other then greatschools.net how to find out how the school atmosphere is. TIA!

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by dennis s

Acadia Loin, You always have great, honest info about Maine. I have a five year old daughter whom I wanted to raise and educate in Maine. After reading many negative articles about the system in Down East and here we have decided not to.

On another topic, I have encountered some very shallow minded, non thinkers and big talkers on this forum and it bothers me a lot. You ,on the other hand, have always been honest and to the point and correct. You don't "spew" and put down other people. I cannot believe that you have such a low "REP". There is something really wrong with this system.

Administrator; I hope you get to read this someday and figure out the problem.

What is a "low rep". Why should I care?

[Acadianlion]

Originally Posted by irishmom

Acadian Lion...thank you for your input. If you have any information on how difficult it is to commute to work in the winter can you share that as well. I'm sure since snow is a regular part of life there that systems are in place to deal with it quickly and efficiently for main roads, but how do local roads do? And how often are schools closed for snow days? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

A lot of people commute quite long distances to work because they have to. Maine has a "bare roads" policy. State roads are supposed to be clear of snow within 24 hours of the end of any storm, and by and large I think the state does a good job of clearing snow. Since a large percentage of Maine's roadways are state numbered roads, even small towns that have to hire some of the plowing done by contractors seem to do well keeping traffic moving. I grew up in eastern Massachusetts, and the snow storms that would cripple traffic there are swept aside here in Maine.

School closings are a different matter. If travel is considered to be hazardous for the morning commute, then schools will be closed. I am well beyond the school aged child years, so I do not know how much of a problem this can be for working families, but I imagine that it is a problem that must be planned for.

I have lived in various places in the world, and my belief is that Maine's winters are perceived as being MUCH worse than is the reality. yes, it gets cold, and we have some really bad weather, but the worst of it passes and leaves behind brilliant blue sky and clear days even in the dead of winter. Roads get plowed and life continues much like it does everywhere else. When I was traveling for a living, I found that the worst of winter weather could make a difference of as much as fifteen minutes at the worst, if I planned for the travel conditions of the day.