Letters to the Editor

FA’s Maine School Performance Grading System report

By Arnold Shorey
Foxcroft Academy Head of School

    This week the Maine Department of Education released the second annual Maine School Performance Grading System report. Foxcroft Academy is now above state average in all areas, with the biggest improvement demonstrated in the categories of Math and three-year average in Math. Foxcroft totaled 289 points, earning a C grade. This represents a nine-point improvement, and FA is now just 11 points away from a B.

    In reviewing the data, we will continue to work to support students with the goal of meeting or exceeding standards in Math and Reading, and we are pleased with the direction that our data is moving in. Our 289 points placed us in the top 30 percent of high schools in Maine, and when compared to schools with a similar free and reduced lunch rate, we have one of the highest scores in the state.
    It is advantageous to know the “rules of the game” beforehand, as FA and other town academies were included in the preliminary release of the data this year, which was not the case last year. Now aware of the rules, we took steps to ensure that our SAT participation level for juniors was at 100 percent, whereas last year we were deducted a full grade because the standard for schools that receive federal funds was set at 95 percent test participation.
    Because town academies do not receive federal financial support, that standard had never been applied to us. With that in mind, the grade improvement from a D to a C is misleading, and it is more important to focus on the increase from 280 to 289 total points and the fact that we are now above state average in all categories. We also continue to believe that test scores are but one way to measure a high school, particularly one with a population as diverse as ours, and that on the whole the opportunities and caliber of education we provide each and every student are on par with those of the best schools in the state.
    On a final note, this is the last year that juniors will be required to take the SAT as part of the state assessment, and future junior classes will instead take the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). While our professional development plan will now focus on the Common Core standards measured by the SBAC, we will continue to place great value on creative expression and remain committed to preparing students for success in an increasingly tech-driven educational landscape.

Davis knows how to legislate effectively

To the Editor:
    All we want in this life is a chance. For those of us not born with a silver spoon in our mouths, the last thing we want is our own government to force us down when we want to push ourselves up and make a difference in this world.
    I had to leave Maine because Maine does not offer the programs for my profession. Luckily, I studied in one of the country’s top 10 programs for my profession. When I finished graduate school and training for my profession, I tried to come back and start my own business with the education and experience. The state turned me down and frankly said I didn’t “qualify.”
    I got discouraged, then I picked up the phone and called then-Senator Paul Davis of Sangerville. He listened to what I had to say, and couldn’t believe it when I told him the circumstances.
    He said immediately he would help. He could have accepted the status quo and told me there was nothing to be done, as this is the way it is. He did not. He could have told me to go somewhere else and talk to someone else. He did not. What he did do was stand up and go to bat for me.
    He convinced his fellow legislators, Republican and Democrat, that the law preventing my working here was wrong and needed to be changed. He worked hard and he met with — this I know — many obstacles within his own state government. Finally, the law was changed, and now I am a successful Maine son able to return to his home state and live and work, and earn a living and help other fellow Mainers. It easily could have turned out differently if it were not for the efforts of Paul Davis for me and people like me.
    He is a good man who does his best for his constituents. I am living proof. I hope we can see him again as our state senator.

Christopher Clukey
Dover-Foxcroft

Here’s the ‘trashy truth’

To the Editor:
    One of the reasons I hold Paul Davis in such high regard is that he does not dive headlong into situations and issues without waiting to see how the facts will unfold. I have tried to emulate his patience as I have studied the East-West Highway issue. While there are certain edicts of conservatism that I cannot compromise, such as private landowner rights and the rights of the individual, the secrecy that has shrouded the highway has kept me suspicious at best.
    So with this mistrust, I continue to quietly investigate the corridor issue. I recently attended a meeting in Alton, Maine. The meeting had been explained to me as a East-West Highway informational, but when I got there, I found it was about a different issue, but not entirely separate from the highway.
    You see, Alton has a trash problem and it is a growing problem. Alton is the spot for the Juniper Ridge Land Fill. It sits along I-95. The problem with trash is that once you fill the land with it, you need more land. Juniper Ridge is expanding and there are other interests that want to create another landfill, for more trash.
    Trash by the truckloads from out of state, coming up the interstate to the landfill and, now we learn the corridor is going to cross I-95 right there in Alton. Coincidence? I think not.
    How did the residents of Alton end up with this trashy problem? It’s the small town dilemma. Not enough votes, not enough voice and not enough clout. So the trash continues to spread up the corridor.
    I live in Piscataquis County in the foothills of the 100-mile wilderness. We have heard the arguments for this large structure destroying the fabric of the Highlands that we love so much, but the struggles of our friends down in Alton exposed for me a whole new danger that I hadn’t heard before. The more we learn about the Corridor the more it smells, well, like trash.
    Landfills eventually run out of land and they need more. Remember, they are shipping in trash from other states. As the appetite for more land grows, where do you think they will find it? Where can they find more little towns with a small voice, no votes and no clout? How about Atkinson, Ornville, Charleston, Garland and so many others along the shrouded route? We don’t know, nobody knows, but the trash keeps growing and demanding more land.
    Have you ever driven through the New Jersey turnpike? God didn’t create those mountains, man created them. We live here in the Highlands for a reason.
    The biggest question raised about the highway was how would it be paid for? Trash is a lucrative business. If the answer is to bring in mounds of trash from all over the United States to deposit in our beautiful backyards and contaminate our lakes and streams, then this answer stinks! If you are tired of the trashy truth of Sen. Doug Thomas that keeps turning up the more we dig, then it’s time to vote Paul Davis in!

Andy Torbett
Atkinson

Former trooper would make strong senator

To the Editor:
    I have a sign on my front lawn promoting Paul Davis for the Maine Senate. Paul has a record of faithful, competent and compassionate service as a Maine State trooper, senator and representative. I have talked to people who had contact with Paul as an officer of the law, during his 23 years on the police force and as a very caring citizen while serving in state government.
    It is not at all unusual to talk to people that Paul dealt with as law breakers and realize that they recognized his competence and compassion! I respect his integrity as well as his fairness (which included his humor). We need people in government with those characteristics and a real balance for the role of government.
    We will be well served by putting Paul back in the Senate again.

Lloyd G. Rozelle
Guilford

Protecting our pollinators is a work in progress
By Tom Vilsack

    This week, USDA and its partners released the results of the eight annual national survey of honey bee losses. The survey shows good news—fewer honey bee colonies were lost this winter than in previous years. According to survey results, total losses of managed honey bee colonies from all causes were 23.2 percent nationwide.
    That figure is a significant improvement over the 30.5 percent loss reported last winter, but it is still higher than the eight-year average loss of 29.6 percent and still far above the 18.9 percent level of loss that beekeepers say is acceptable for their economic sustainability.
    While we’re pleased to see improvement this year, these losses are still too high.
    There is still more work to be done to stabilize honey bee populations and ensure the health of pollinator populations and the health of the American population—nearly one third of our diet, including many berries, nuts, fruits and vegetables, comes from plants pollinated by honey bees and other pollinators.
    That is why USDA continues to aggressively support research and initiatives that will lead to long-term solutions to improve honey bee health.
    Our Agricultural Research Service has put together a program to breed bees that can naturally resist varroa mites, a major factor contributing to honey bee colony declines. Earlier this year, we provided $3 million in technical and financial assistance to encourage farmers in Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin to grow alfalfa, clover and other flowering habitat on working lands to benefit bees and other pollinators.
    In addition, the Administration’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposal dedicates $71 million for efforts to respond to the decline in honey bee health and support their recovery.
    Included in this request is funding for the Pollinator and Pollinator Health Innovation Institute, which will support further exploration of the biological, environmental and management issues associated with honey bee decline.
    Additionally, this week we launched a new tool to increase public awareness about the reduction of bee populations. The People’s Garden Apiary bee cam at our headquarters will broadcast honey bee hive activity at www.usda.gov/beewatch.
    To learn more about USDA and our partners’ efforts to improve honey bee health and how you can help by adopting pollinator-friendly land management practices at home, on the farm, and in your community, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/pollinators.
    Tom Vilsack is secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Sangerville lawmaker is steadfast and grounded

To the Editor:
    During my time on the battlefields, logging in western Maine, and serving in Augusta, I have met many people of character and patriotism, but few compare to Paul Davis. Paul is a thoughtful, even-tempered gentleman, who is the same person in the halls of the Capitol making laws as he is in the sap house making syrup. In a world when too many politicians campaign for office with one face and maintain a different one when elected, Paul is steadfast and grounded. (This could be because of his faith, but those who know his lovely wife, Patty, would give her the credit.)
    Occupying the seat next to Paul in the legislature, I have been witness to his legislative successes. He stood up to the powerful pharmaceutical industry and fought to allow Mainers to buy less expensive prescription drugs across the border. Without Paul’s support it likely wouldn’t have passed or avoided a veto. He was instrumental in an ethics reform forbidding legislators from becoming lobbyists for one year after leaving office. As a veteran himself, Paul came through with support for veterans’ causes at every turn. He can also be counted on to fight against expanding both the size and power of government.
    The people Paul represents have been blessed to have a lawmaker with his rare ability to influence the outcome of legislation and still remain the same humble guy with the same values as when he arrived in Augusta. The people of Senate District 4 have the opportunity to elect Paul Davis, but all Mainers will benefit. I urge you to support this talented and worthy public servant.

Rep. Jarrod Crockett
(R-Bethel)

Legislator has ability to get things done

To the Editor:
    I read online with interest the letter from Scott Wellman about Doug Thomas and LD171 or what was known as the CanRX bill. I would like to say that many people in the legislature worked very hard on the bill also.
    The opposition to this bill was strong. The drug companies spent a lot of money fighting to kill the bill. Paul Davis lobbied me and many other legislators to support the bill. He arranged a meeting with the entire Republican caucus with officials of Hardwood Products. He also lobbied Gov. LePage to not veto the bill as it appeared he might. However, the governor allowed the bill to become law without his signing it. The vote in the house was much closer than in the senate. With only a few votes changing a governor’s veto would have killed the bill. I know of several meetings he had with the governor and his staff. Certainly Paul’s efforts played a part in the governor’s decision.
    I am considered one of the most conservative pro business legislators in the entire legislature.
    I and several others would not have voted for this bill but for the efforts of Paul Davis. He is very well respected among his peers and has the ability to get things done.

Rep. Dale Crafts
(R-Lisbon Falls)