AUGUSTA – In response to growing concerns that school testing was sapping the time and energy of educators, the Baldacci administration has proposed pieces of legislation aimed at restructuring and modifying certain timelines mandated by Maine Learning Results.

Gov. John Baldacci and Commissioner of Education Susan A. Gendron announced the proposed changes at a press conference Monday.

Along with pledging to address the impact of the state’s testing policies on teachers, the governor also called upon the Legislature to consider increasing teacher pay during its 2006 legislative session. Maine has the lowest teacher salaries in New England, and its average pay rate for beginning teachers ranks 47th in the country.

“Student learning is a direct result of interaction between teacher and student,” Baldacci said in announcing the modifications. “Students need to be given time to learn and teachers the time to teach. That’s why we are suggesting this bold new initiative to improve Maine’s public schools.”

The modifications proposed Monday to Learning Results would provide local school districts with additional time to develop a comprehensive system of standards in alignment with their curriculum, instruction and assessments. The state has committed $17 million within its school funding formula, known as Essential Programs and Services, to help improve instructional practices within individual school districts.

Another piece of the package calls for creation of a Public Education Practitioners Board. The board will be made up of six teachers and four public school principals and is designed to ensure that educators’ concerns about state reform initiatives receive a fair hearing in Augusta. Gendron and first lady Karen Baldacci, a kindergarten teacher, will co-chair the board.

Gov. Baldacci said listening to concerns voiced by his wife and observing and helping her prepare for her lessons helped convince him that modifications were needed.

Baldacci said the increased emphasis on assessments was driving many teachers from the profession. He reiterated that teachers need to spend more time teaching and that the goal of the modifications was to stress quality over quantity.

“I recognize we are getting to a critical point where we are going to lose a lot of good people,” said Baldacci. “I know it personally because of what my wife has gone through.”

Rob Walker, president of the Maine Education Association, said the modifications were long overdue. He noted that Learning Results was adopted in 1997 and that it was reasonable to expect some changes to the system once it was up and running.

Walker said that while the state’s teachers fully support standards-based education, the assessment system being used was “in danger of doing serious harm” to students and schools. He said the current system “defiles everything we know and love” about teaching.

“The burden of local assessment has reached crisis proportions,” said Walker. “Veteran teachers are taking early retirement because they no longer have time in their day to do what they love to do, teach. Midcareer educators are looking to get out because they are constantly teaching to the test.”

Although she agreed that the department’s assessment policy had caused problems across the state, Gendron said a number of school districts had successfully integrated test subjects into daily lesson plans. She said educators from those districts would be sent across the state to assist their colleagues in doing the same.

Gendron insisted that the modifications would “help us to stay the course of the original vision” of Learning Results.

The proposed changes also call for modifying the graduation requirements for 2007-08 by reducing the number of assessments in English and mathematics. They would limit local assessments to English and mathematics for students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade while continuing to collect data in science, social studies and health-physical education.

The modifications also aim to ensure that decisions about high school diplomas for students with disabilities take into consideration the student’s individual education plan. In addition, the Department of Education proposes to conduct a broad-based and comprehensive evaluation of what it takes to implement Learning Results to identify areas that might require additional attention in the future.

The Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee will get its first look at the proposals when it meets this afternoon. The committee’s Senate chairman, Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro, said her panel was looking forward to reviewing the proposals.

“It’s a wonderful initiative,” said Mitchell. “Learning Results is extremely important. We’re not saying we don’t want it, we’re just saying we want it to work well.”