Chairwoman of Portland school board presses for universal pre-kindergarten

The chairwoman of the Portland Board of Public Education is calling on the City Council to engage in an ongoing community conversation about establishing universal pre-kindergarten in Maine’s largest city.

Anna Trevorrow made the comments Monday evening during a 30-minute State of the Schools address, during which she devoted much time to the district’s successes, including the opening of the new Amanda Rowe Elementary School and being the first in Maine to award a new state-certified Seal of Biliteracy that recognizes achievement in language learning. ...

 

 

Anna Trevorrow chairs the Portland Board of Public Education. Courtesy of Portland Schools

... Trevorrow said test results show that economically advantaged students are competitive with their peers from other districts. ..

“It is essential that we invest strategically to improve student outcomes to make progress toward realizing our equity goal,” Trevorrow said. “One of the ways we can do that is through universal pre-kindergarten.”

Portland launched a pre-K program in 2011, but is not able to serve all students, Trevorrow said. ...

“Over the past year, the board has actively participated in a community conversation about increasing access to high quality pre-K,” Trevorrow said. “I’ll take this opportunity to ask the council to join us in that conversation and help us figure out how we can increase pre-K access – something that Portland can be proud of and that will help make a difference to all students down the road.”

Trevorrow also pointed to last year’s contentious budget process. ... That led to the loss of two class days, fewer electives in the middle schools and a reduction of more than $1 million in administrative support, Trevorrow said. ...

“This budget served to heighten awareness within the Portland community that we are facing, and will continue to face, complex funding dynamics,” Trevorrow said. “We must figure out how to not only support our current level of education, but to improve it, while at the same time being cognizant of Portland taxpayers.” ...

“Important decisions about our schools, our school boundaries and our investments may result from this analysis,” Trevorrow said. “However, I want to stress that no decisions have been made yet.”

Trevorrow also highlighted the district’s successful lawsuit that not only allowed Deering High School student Allan Monga, an asylum-seeker from Zambia, to compete in the national Poetry Out Loud contest, but prompted the National Endowment for the Arts to change its rules to allow non-citizens to compete.