Maine

"Focusing on boosting the quality of the state's patchwork early learning programs and eliminating duplication and inefficiencies should be paired with a wider effort to expand children's access to care. We -- as a company and as parents, siblings, neighbors -- cannot emphasize enough the importance of investing in quality preschool, child care and programs that help parents, particularly those living at or near the poverty line, to become stronger caregivers."

"The Portland-based John T. Gorman Foundation is providing a $300,000 grant to the Machias-based Sunrise County Economic Council to fund the technology training program, formally known as the Washington County Education and Employment through Sustainable Broadband Adoption Project [��_] Free classes have covered basic computer skills, Microsoft programs and social media skills. They�ve been held at locations throughout the 2,568 square miles that make up Washington County, which is struggling with limited economic activity, 9.4 percent unemployment and the state�s highest poverty rate."

"LePage's first two-year budget, introduced two years ago, targeted the state's welfare programs more heavily. It allowed the state to cut off food stamps, or TANF benefits, to drug felons convicted within the past 20 years who failed a series of drug tests. The state, however, hasn't implemented that provision of the budget, citing potential implementation costs and the potential that courts won't allow drug testing as a condition for receiving welfare benefits. Apart from the budget proposal, the LePage administration is proposing to prohibit convicted drug felons from receiving TANF benefits."

"Teachers and education technicians, after-school enrichment programs, preschool for low-income children and vocational training for people with disabilities -- all are at risk if Congress and the White House can't agree on taxes and spending."

"The national network of Educare schools -- which includes Educare Central Maine -- was highlighted on NBC's Education Nation on Monday as an innovative education program that is demonstrating success in preparing low-income children for kindergarten."

"For that reason, the responsibility to promote literacy in Maine extends beyond the K-12 education system to programs such as Head Start, which provides a framework to introduce rudimentary literacy skills to children from low-income families. In addition to advocating that resources allocated to Head Start adequately reflect new demands for early literacy training, the Department of Education, through initiatives like Literacy for ME,' can provide an organizational structure and repository for resources. But -- as the report makes clear -- the effort requires broad community participation."