Governor’s Learning Results

Ask Gov. Angus King to name which programs he is most proud of and he will invariably mention Learning Results, which measures education outcomes and raises the standards for most schools in Maine. One of the ideas behind Learning Results is that if Maine can identify where a school is falling short it can fix the problem, to the benefit of students. That commendable idea does not need to be limited to schools; it also can serve as a model to measure the success of the King administration itself.

The governor has begun important advances, both symbolic and tangible, in addressing the problem of the Two Maines. He should take another step forward now, however, by applying Learning Results-style standards to his own aspirations for the state. Listed below are 10 general strategies he says will significantly improve Maine’s rural economies. Each of these strategies should come with short- and long-term specific, measurable outcomes that will tell the public whether the administration is meeting its agenda.

State agencies no doubt already have such standards for their own sake, but just as the Learning Results outcomes were derived after many public hearings, so too should the King administration seek public advice on its OneMaine strategies.

So, for instance, an outcome for strategy 1 — improving transportation — might include a 10 percent increase in the number of rail lines in use in Maine by Jan. 1, 2000, or a completed plan for an East-West Highway by that date. Strategy 2, the energy network, might pinpoint a crucial project — a major power line to an underserved region, for instance — then establish a date for getting it installed.

A strategy like No. 7 is easier. Target, say, a 30 percent increase in each of the next four years in state and federal investment in facilities for the northern half of Maine. The ultimate goal of this strategy is not to need this sort of development to be successful as a region, but that goal is unlikely to arrive in the next four years.

The important thing is to encourage the people living the region to help set the goals, or to suggest new strategies that might be more effective than the 10 developed by the King administration. As with Learning Results, the goals must be specific and measurable.

Gov. King, of course, doesn’t get to set policy by himself — he has eager partners in the Legislature and local governments to name just two. The best laid plans of the administration could go astray for reasons it cannot control. On the other hand, students have underfunded school districts, teachers that might be excellent or exhuasted and any number of difficulties at home, yet Learning Results doesn’t cut them any slack. This is the governor’s chance to use the mandate voters just handed him.

The list of goals for OneMaine would bring the public aboard what is too often the lonely ground of state policy wonks and overwrought editorial writers. It would allow residents to follow state government in a methodical and consistent way, building understanding about what government can and cannot do to improve lives and how well this particular administration is doing.

That’s an achievement in itself.