Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, and Lamoine
16 February 2015
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Work has heated up considerably in your state legislature over the last month and many of you have written to me with questions and concerns about the Governor’s budget proposal.
Most legislators prefer, officially, to remain open-minded before public hearings are held. Certainly most of us will …
9 February 2015
Senator Langley, Representative Kornfield, esteemed colleagues on the Education Committee:
I am Brian Hubbell, representing House District 135 – Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, and Lamoine – and I am before you this afternoon to present LD 3: An Act To Ensure Consistent Certification of Graduation Standards in Publicly Funded Secondary Schools.…
9 February 2015
Senator Langley, Representative Kornfield, esteemed colleagues on the Education Committee:
I am Brian Hubbell, representing House District 135 – Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, and Lamoine – and I am before you this afternoon to present LD 3: An Act To Ensure Consistent Certification of Graduation Standards in Publicly Funded Secondary Schools.…
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Below is my report from this past week in the legislature. Please let me continue to hear your thoughts and concerns about state policy.
Responding to federal request for clarification on teacher evaluations
Recently, the state has received a letter from the federal Department of Education seeking clarification about Maine’s implementation …
4 January 2015
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This coming week, as the 127th Maine Legislature begins its new session, I want to take this time to wish you and your families a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.
I believe I speak for most legislators when I say that we begin this session with optimism …
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I am deeply honored and grateful to be elected to represent you for another two years in the Maine State Legislature.
Built from conversations at many hundreds of doors over the past half year, your support renews my courage to represent what I understand to be our common values of mutual …
October 1, 2014
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Evidently the Governor and I have very different thresholds for what constitutes a “perfectly qualified” nominee.
Believing that I always owe you an explanation of my reasoning on controversial votes that I make as your representative, I want to report on the confirmation hearing that my committee held …
14 September 2014
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Before the distraction of the fall elections, here is a summary of this past summer’s legislative activity. Although the legislative session is adjourned, much work continues since my last report to you in May.
Leading improvements to Maine’s school funding model
First, I am proud and honored …
Dear Friends and Neighbors in Maine House District 35,
Having shared with you last December a recap of last year’s session and an outline of my priorities for this year as your representative, I want to offer here for comparison an accounting of what I see as my successes and disappointments in the 2014 legislative …
Monday, March 17, 2014
Teacher evaluations
Morning, good committee work session on LD 1747 Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Chapter 180: Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth Systems, a Major Substantive Rule of the Department of Education. After a few refinements to broaden the endorsement of the teachers on the stakeholders’ group and to specify …
Monday, March 3:
The Legislature’s Select Committee on Workforce and Economic Future formally voted to recommend my bond bill which would benefit development projects at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory and the Jackson Lab.
…Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Morning, House session.
Afternoon, committee briefing from Department of Education on Committee bill re responses to Picus report …
27 February 2014
Representative Brian Hubbell, Bar Harbor
On motion to indefinitely postpone House Amendment ‘B’ to Committee Amendment ‘A’ to LD 1736
Mr. Speaker, Women and Men of the House:
I realize that, at this moment, it appears that the good Representative from Augusta and I are standing on opposite sides in this chamber.…
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Representative Brian Hubbell of Bar Harbor
House floor speech in favor of LD 1736: Resolve, To Provide Maine Students with Access to Online Learning through Their Existing School Districts
Mr. Speaker, Women and Men of the House:
Just over two years ago, our Chief Executive issued an Executive Order giving the …
February 4, 2014
Senator Millett, Representative MacDonald, esteemed colleagues on the Education Committee, I am Brian Hubbell, representing House District 35, Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor, Cranberry Isles, and Mount Desert and I am here before you as the lead co-sponsor and earnest supporter of LD 1736, A Resolve, To Create a State-run Virtual Academy Providing …
Testimony of Rep. Brian Hubbell
LD 1591: An Act To Amend the Process Controlling the Transfer of a Student between School Administrative Units
Before the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs
Senator Millett, Representative MacDonald, and fellow distinguished members of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee, I am Representative Brian Hubbell. I am …
Wednesday, January 8
Your legislature’s second session opened today. A large group including many local constituents rallied at the State House in favor of expanding access to health care for uninsured Mainers.by accepting federal funds for Medicaid.
Following on Picus Associates’ Independent Review of …
January 15, 2014
Dr. Silvernail,
Thanks for your presentation to our committee last Thursday on your invaluable report ‘The Relationships Between School Poverty and Student Achievement in Maine.’
In committee, we never seem to have enough time for deeper inquiry, so I’ve noted some things that have stuck with me in re-reading. I …
Following the state’s receipt of the Picus report on Maine school funding and Picus Associates’ proposed alternative ‘EB Model’, here are my recommendations on how we on the Education Committee should proceed:
EB vs EPS: modeling the comprehensive cost of adequate equitable educational opportunity:
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous new year as your legislature gears up for another season, I want to recap some of the successes and disappointments of the last session and also to share my goals for the upcoming one.
Successes of the last session
While surely there was something …
Subject: Comments re proposed rule Chapter 180, “Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth Systems.”
Date: November 24, 2013
To : Deborah Friedman, Director, Policy and Programs, Maine Department of Education and Mary Paine, Educator Effectiveness Coordinator
From: Brian Hubbell, board member, Bar Harbor School Committee, Mount Desert Island Regional School System
As a school board member …
To: Speaker Eves, President Alfond, Distinguished Members of the Legislative Council,
From: Representative Brian Hubbell, Bar Harbor
Date: November 4, 2013
Re: Appeal of Legislative Council decision on LR 2478: An Act To Correct an Inconsistency in the Process Controlling the Transfer of a Student between School Administrative Units
Policy Background
Last session, via LD …
[House floor speech urging override of Governor’s veto of LD 1057: An Act Related to Funding of Charter Schools, July 9, 2013]
Mr. Speaker, Men and Women of the House,
Most members here, I believe, at this point recognize the problem at the root of the perennial cat fight in this state over the …
Dear Friends and Neighbors in House District 35,
Your state legislature finished up the bulk of its business last week, adjourning at 2:00am on Thursday morning.
We will reconvene on Wednesday to respond to the veto of the state budget that the Governor has promised. At this point, I am assuming that substantial bi-partisan support …
Dear Friends and Neighbors in House District 35:
Not much sleep over the last week as we enter the closing weeks of the legislature. We are now in day-long and evening sessions which are subject to an increasing volume of debate as we deal with more difficult and controversial bills.
Most notably,I have been privileged …
Here is an alarm: For the first time in the state’s calculation, Maine faces the prospect of insufficiently funding even the threshold costs of providing a basic education to all Maine students.
Since 2009, our state has reduced its annual contribution towards funding Maine schools by more than $60 million. As a direct consequence, …
As your state legislature is now really getting into the thick of this session’s business, I wanted to provide a report on a few selected bills which represent some honestly divided opinions among legislators.
In each case, I’ve tried to fairly outline the arguments pro and con and then to report on my own vote …
At last, via a November 25 memo from Commissioner Bowen to Governor LePage, we have plain insight into the Governor’s plans for Maine schools.
This greatly aids in understanding why the Governor never misses an opportunity to claim that Maine schools, still by most measures among the best in the nation, are ‘failing’ and …
As many of you certainly know, the legislature has wrestled this session on the issue of the extent to which the concealed weapons permits should be kept secret.
I have corresponded with many of you on this matter. Some of you — including very close friends whose views I deeply value — expressed grave and, …
Above is a graph that shows the underlying conditions that make the case for additional funding for state aid to local schools beyond what the Governor proposes.
The bottom line represents state subsidy to local schools. Note that since 2008 the state has cut school support by over $80 million.
The second lowest dashed line …
Reform red in tooth and claw
Friday, March 22, I attended the Governor’s Conference on Education. The conference featured presentations by free-market education reformers like the Friedman Foundation and Students First which generally advocate for more standardized testing, fewer unions, and less public oversight in education. No one even mentioned what makes Finland’s schools …
Graphic representation of state plus local education spending and EPS level (DoE)
Outline overview and context for the current budget deliberations:
This week the Education Committee heard two bills for which the testimony favoring and opposing seemed particularly irreconcilable.
1. The post-modern herd
One, LD 672: An Act Relating to Exemption from Immunization for Schoolchildren, responds to a recent national increase, mirrored in Maine, of parents who are choosing not to immunize their children. Maine …
Legislative report: March 11-12, 2013
This week it felt as if the Legislature and the Governor finally both took two steps in the right direction on the hospital debt. With both sides plainly committed to making the hospitals whole, the negotiations now appear to hinge on whether its better for the state to build …
Morning
Afternoon
Morning
Education Committee work session
Morning
Press conference with MELIG business leaders announcing Elevate Maine initiative to expand earlychildhood education
Met with Governor’s policy people to discuss better biological management for landlocked salmon and brook trout and common goals in education policy.
Passamaquoddy concerns re elvers and licensing.
Afternoon:
Education …
Democratic press conference on hospital debt and state liquor contract.
Morning briefing from Commissioner Bowen on the education sections of the biennial budget. …
Tuesday afternoon, I attended a presentation to the Appropriations Committee by Gordon Smith, the Vice President of the Maine Medical Association about whether the state should accept the additional federal money offered by the Affordable Care Act in order to cover uninsured Mainers.
Mr. Smith gave a detailed and thoughtful presentation of the reasoning given …
On February 26th and 27th, hosted by Educate Maine, the legislature’s Education Committee took a field trip to visit the Williams School in Oakland and to attend a policy symposium in Freeport.
About 200 students attend the Williams School. Nominally, these students are in the third, fourth, and fifth grades. But, for the past …
Monday, February 25, in committee, we got our first detailed look at some of the initiatives related to education that the Governor has placed within his biennial budget proposal.
As Commisioner Bowen was up in our neighborhood congratulating Deer Isle High School for their dramatically improved graduation rate, our committee was briefed on …
Report to Maine House District 35 from the Legislature: week of February 19-22, 2013:
Guns, privacy, and politics
On Tuesday, as predicted, we acted with legislative alacrity to enact a temporary law that shields concealed weapons permit data from public view.
No matter where one stands on privacy, public safety, or government transparency, the action …
Dear Friends in House District 35,
As things are beginning to roll now in the legislature, rather than make a comprehensive report I’ll just outline some of the dilemmas I’ve had to face this week as your representative.
Understanding that not all of you will agree with me, I will do my best to explain …
The Bar Harbor Town Council asks legislators to support the transportation bond and transportation infrastructure projects, to reject the Governor’s proposal to end municipal revenue sharing, to re-commit to state support of 55% of the costs of public education, to fund mandated improvements under the Federal Clean Water Act, and to support job training.
…Bluster and improvement
Our committee had been scheduled to receive a briefing from the Department of Education on Monday. But, after the committee’s report to Appropriations last week on the supplemental budget which was followed by the Department issuing a scathing press release blasting the majority’s recommendation to extend the Governor’s curtailment to include the …
Bills list for this session
The Revisor’s Office has published the list of legislator’s bill requests. My education committee is schedule to work about 180 bills, a substantial load.
Supplemental budget
In a work session that was pleasurable to no one, the Education Committee endorsed the across the board supplemental budget reductions made necessary by …
Appropriations hearings
This afternoon the Education and Appropriations Committees jointly heard public testimony on the sections of the Governor’s proposed supplemental budget related to education.
The affected state agencies all testified that, given the regrettable necessity of curtailment, they could make do with their share of the cuts. But, following their testimony, advocates raised concerns …
Briefly attended a breakfast meeting with representatives from Maine’s independent schools – John Bapst, George Stevens, Washington Academy, etc. The academies are as uneasy about their share of public money as public schools this season.
During the morning House session, we referred several more bills to the Education Committee, including one which seeks to …
Continuing agency briefings
More briefings this morning from agencies under the jurisdiction of the Education Committee.
James Page, Chancellor of the University of Maine System, reminded us that the University’s mission remains education, research & economic development, and service to Maine communities. UMaine challenges are largely economic, similar to those facing other state …
