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School Board chairwoman: Schools impact 1 in 6 Portland residents
PORTLAND — A free, public education is essential to our system of government, School Board Chairwoman Anna Trevorrow said in remarks prepared for her State of the Schools address Monday ...
In paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson, Trevorrow said, “Educating the public was the only sure way to guarantee the preservation of our liberty.”
“Public education remains a path for our students to achieve their dreams, no matter how humble their beginnings,” she said. “Without a free public education, there would be an even greater divide between the educated and uneducated, the rich and poor, the strong and weak.”
Overall, Trevorrow said, “public education helps students become better global citizens, ensuring our country’s global competitiveness. This is especially true in Portland, Maine’s largest and most diverse school district.”
Trevorrow also thanked Superintendent of Schools Xavier Botana and his staff, her fellow School Board members, and everyone who works for the School Department.
“I know I speak for (them all) when I say that we do the work that we do because we believe in the importance of public education,” Trevorrow said ...
In addition, the School Board is in the process of approving a transgender student policy, which Trevorrow said is “another important next step for inclusion and equity.” ...
She said it takes a community to commit to preparing students to succeed in college and careers.
“We are deeply grateful to Portland for being that generous and supportive community,” Trevorrow said. “… We strive every day to give this community – its residents, taxpayers, voters and elected officials alike – a grand sense of pride in its public education system.”
Anna Trevorrow, chairwoman of the Portland School Board, presented the annual State of the Schools address to the City Council Monday.
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http://www.theforecaster.net/school-board-chairwoman-schools-impact-1-in-6-portland-residents/
Letter: ‘Neither Left nor Right, but in Front’
Edgar Alan Beem’s engaging “What’s Left of Me” a few weeks ago placed me to his left politically. As one of the principal founders of the Green Party, I daily encounter the labels “left” and “far-left.” A closer look yields a different view.
For example, I am very strong for conserving. I am strong for local self-reliance. I am strong for decentralization, small business and community values, and that means I strongly oppose big government. I deplore the gospel of perpetual economic growth, the sacred mantra of every party on the conventional “left to right” political spectrum. The Greens are shocked at this. I am aghast at the callous subordination of ecological realities to greedy financial calculations. Climate change is not just a buzz word. Extinction is not just an idle threat. The lives and livelihoods of all of us, rich and poor, are now threatened as never before. A foreign policy based on military might – and shoving killing taxes on the poor and middle class to pay for it – is truly sick.
“Left” doesn’t fit. I relate to Petra Kelly’s vision for Green Parties, she being a key founder worldwide: “Neither Left nor Right, but in Front.”
At lunch the other day, Ed Beem and I came away with a better understanding of each other’s politics. Democrats and Greens could work together. Political reforms like ranked-choice voting are crucial for that to happen. More on that as opportunity offers.
John Rensenbrink
Topsham
THIS LETTER APPEARED IN THE FORECASTER AND IS AVAILABLE AT THE LINK BELOW
http://www.theforecaster.net/letter-neither-left-nor-right-but-in-front/
Jill Stein joins push to save ranked-choice voting in Maine
From the Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Former presidential candidate Jill Stein is joining a push to get Maine to enact ranked-choice voting.
The ranked-choice system is designed to let voters rank candidates on ballots. Proponents say it eliminates spoilers and ensures majority support for the winner.
Voters chose to enact ranked-choice voting in Maine with a 2016 referendum vote. But the system may never be put in place because of delays imposed by state lawmakers who say it conflicts with the Maine Constitution.
Stein ... sent out a mass email on Wednesday urging supporters in Maine to sign petitions that are circulating in support of the veto.
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Watch How Medical Cannabis Instantly Alleviates This Boy’s Seizures
It is tough enough seeing a young person battling a serious medical condition, but what if you have to fight tooth and nail to ensure that your child receives the life-changing medicine they need? ...
To begin with, the Starosteckis lived in Florida when Stefan was first diagnosed. At that time, the Sunshine state had failed to pass a medical marijuana referendum, which might have given epileptic patients like Stefan access to medical cannabis. In fact, Florida only began allowing medical marijuana in November of 2016 and its policies are still considered inadequate and restrictive by advocates of medical cannabis.
As a result, Peter’s parents felt they had no choice but to move to a state that offered access to medical marijuana. They choose Maine because that state’s program had been in existence for 20 years and offered (they believed) the best and most advanced medical marijuana program in the country ...
To compound matters, the Starosteckis live in a town called Standish, which wants to ban cannabis locally on Tuesday. Peter explained to me that he is on the Town Council, but as a relative newcomer he’s perceived as something of an outsider. Fifty-four percent of the town’s residents are with him and his family (they support allowing medical cannabis). But Peter says that some officials remain very hostile to the idea ...
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Greens’ Stein Faults Two-Party System
Some Democrats blame Jill Stein for “siphoning off” crucial votes from Hillary Clinton and thus helping to elect Donald Trump, but Stein insists that the two-party straitjacket is the real enemy of democracy, reports Dennis J Bernstein.
By Dennis J Bernstein
Former Green Party presidential candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, remains undaunted in her belief that the only real and significant change in U.S. politics will come through a third party that can finally break the headlock that the Democrats and Republicans hold on the electoral system ...
Jill Stein: ...
And even this issue of spoiling elections, and splitting the votes. Well, hello, there’s a system called ranked-choice voting which Greens have been promoting forever. The state of Maine just passed it by voter referendum.
[California Governor] Jerry Brown just vetoed it [in California]. There was enabling legislation that was passed by the Legislature and Jerry Brown vetoed it because Democrats are at war with the liberation of our votes. They rely on extortion. They rely on intimidation, and fear, in order to hold people back. Why do they do that? Because they know that they can’t earn your vote.
Ranked-choice voting calls their bluff. It allows you to actually rank your choices. If your first choice loses, your vote is automatically reassigned to your second choice. That’s a win-win on our democracy. There are win-wins for every issue that faces us.
Right now we’re looking at a lose-lose [situation], with this corporate-sponsored duopoly. The Democrats might give us ten more years than the Republicans would, of survival, under Democratic policies. But it’s a sinking ship, with the duopoly. It’s time to get off the ship. Our lives depend on getting off that ship and launching the lifeboat. We’ve got it, let’s make it happen.
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https://consortiumnews.com/2017/03/15/greens-stein-faults-two-party-system/
