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USM Publishes "The Condition of K-12 Public Education in Maine" Annual Report

February 27, 2004

As schools in Maine grapple with the implementation of Maine's Learning Results and President Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation, the University of Southern Maine has made available the more recent report on the condition of Maine public schools.

The eighth annual report, "The Condition of K-12 Public Education in Maine 2004," was researched and published by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute, a nonpartisan organization funded by the Maine State Legislature, USM, and the University of Maine. David Silvernail, director of USM's Center for Education Policy, Applied Research and Evaluation (CEPARE), is the author.

A few of this year's findings are as follows:

> Although much has been said recently about Maine's "brain drain," many 1998 college graduates who left Maine to study returned to complete their degree programs. Further, two-thirds of 1998's college graduates chose to remain in, or return to, Maine to live and work.
> The U.S Department of Education expects national public school enrollments to increase less than one percent between 2003 and 2012, while Maine's enrollment is projected to decrease by 9.1 percent. Currently, Maine's public school enrollment is down four percent from ten years ago.
> Student enrollment in Maine's special education programs has increased by 26.5 percent since 1993, and state expenditures have risen by nearly 45 percent.
> According to a 2003 U.S. Bureau of the Census survey of workers 25 years and older, the national median annual income for males is more than females with the same level of education. For example, women with a bachelor's degree earned $33,662 dollars per year, while their male counterparts earned $50,730 dollars.

Reporters can receive their own copy of the report by contacting USM's Office of Public Affairs at 780-4200, or it can be viewed online at www.cepare.usm.maine.edu.

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