BANGOR – It’s a message his parents passed along to him and his seven siblings, and it’s a message that the governor is passing along to constituents.

Education. Education. Education.

“It use to be when you finished high school, that was it,” Gov. John Baldacci said Friday to a gathering of about 45 area residents, students and staff at Eastern Maine Community College. “But it’s not that way anymore. It really isn’t.”

Life-long learning is now very important, he stressed.

“It is your ticket to being in charge of your own career,” Baldacci said. “I often tell people the less education that you have, the more you have to do what people tell you to do.

“The more education you have, the more you’re going to determine where you’re going to end up and be in charge of your own destiny and your own future.”

The forum was held to provide the public an opportunity to question and engage in discussion on key issues of concern for the state, following Wednesday’s State of the State address.

With only three questions from the audience, however, the meeting sounded more like a campaign session, with the governor reviewing his accomplishments.

In addition to staff and students, several people from Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems and the United Way of Eastern Maine, along with Frank Farrington, Bangor city councilor and former mayor, and Rep. Charles “Dusty” Fisher, D-Brewer, were in attendance.

The state’s initiatives are geared to strengthen Maine individuals and families by supporting education, health coverage and economic development, the governor said.

“The more we can expand access, the better off we’re all going to be,” he said.

Maine’s head of a state spent part of Friday’s forum listing and giving examples of several programs that his administration has initiated or is working on, including a $750,000 nursing scholarship program, plans to increase the base pay for starting teachers from the average $24,000 to $30,000, and possible changes to property valuation guidelines.

“[Fixed-income seniors] are living in fear that they’re going to get taxed out of their homes,” he said, adding he has submitted legislation, LD 2, as a possible solution.

Under his administration, the state was able to “reduce spending to the lowest level in 15 years, at 3.1 percent,” keep several bankrupt paper industries open, and increase state educational payments to reduce local costs, the governor said.

One staffer from the United Way asked if the governor was working on long-term plans to address the high cost of heating oil. The governor said the state needs to work toward establishing renewable energy sources, such as solar and biofuels, and needs to break from the regional energy grid.

“It kind of works to be energy independent,” Baldacci said.

Maine took a step in the right direction when the decision was made to purchase hybrid-vehicles, which account for about 30 percent of state-owned cars and trucks, he said.

All the programs on which Baldacci is working or has started are strengthening the state, he said.

“I’m running into more and more people who are telling me a son or daughter are moving back to Maine,” the governor said. “It’s happening. They’re recognizing the quality of life and at the same they’re beginning to find opportunities.”