Contact:
Krysta West
Communications Director
Senate Republican Office
(207) 287-1505
krysta.west@legislature.maine.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AUGUSTA – Senator Matt Pouliot (R-Kennebec) presented LD 1267, “An Act To Allow Awarding of Graduation Credits by Career and Technical Education Centers and Regions,” to the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee on Thursday, May 2.

The bill would allow the Commissioner of Education to approve courses and programs at career and technical education (CTE) centers and regions to qualify for credit toward graduation requirements.

“I have heard numerous examples of students attending CTE programs to learn skills that will benefit them well beyond their K-12 education that have had to stop attending because of easily avoidable conflicts,” said Sen. Pouliot.

“In one case, a student attending a two-year culinary arts program was told they would have to forego the second year of their training because they did not take an arts class. No consideration was given to the fact that the student was learning and practicing art every day. This caused them to leave a program where they are getting trained for a career and could land a job right out of high school. A director at SkillsUSA told me that they lose a dozen second-year students each year due to conflicts such as this.

“Further, there are some CTE programs where some students attending earn academic credits while other students do not. With LD 1267, I hope we can level the playing field to eliminate the inequities and offer all students the same opportunities to succeed.”

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