Dozens of Maine educators said the state’s support for education, autonomy in the classroom and tight-knit communities were appealing factors to stay in the profession. But because of various barriers including low pay, restrictive certification requirements and limited pathways to becoming a teacher, Maine is suffering from the same educator shortage as the rest of the country.
That’s according to a report released through the new Teach Maine Center, a teacher-led effort to recruit and retain Maine’s workforce developed by Educate Maine and the Maine Department of Education.
In recent years, staffing shortages have been a major issue across the state, with hundreds of unfilled teacher, education technician and school bus driver positions (although data on current open positions is not collected at the state level, by the Maine Department of Education or other organizations). The shortages can be attributed, in part, to the financial and policy barriers to becoming a teacher, as well as the average teacher salary, which advocates say is inadequate in the face of rising costs.
“Maine teachers love what they do. They also face deep, systemic challenges in their day-to-day work, for which there are no easy fixes,” the report said. “Fewer and fewer people are entering the teaching profession over time.”
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While Maine educators often find teaching to be a meaningful and rewarding profession, the cost-benefit analysis of an increasing workload, expectations from administrators and parents, and the low pay combined with the rising costs of housing and teacher certification means more teachers are leaving the profession entirely. That means the state has to develop new strategies to make the profession more attainable, attractive and financially sustainable, the report said.
Between October 2023 and May 2024, the Teach Maine Center conducted listening sessions with more than 240 educators throughout the state. They represented all grade levels, including early childhood and adult education and at least 157 different schools from 100 districts. The feedback from the listening sessions will inform the priorities for the Teach Maine Center and the development of a strategic plan.
One of the biggest issues for a lot of Maine teachers remains a largely underpaid, stressful work environment with a lack of support, according to the report.
“What surprised us a bit was that there were themes across all 16 counties regardless of where folks were teaching,” said Jason Judd, executive director of Educate Maine. “We heard so much about creating more pathways into the teaching profession by addressing things like teacher certification as well as supporting ‘grow your own’ programs for ed techs and other school staff that might want to be teachers in the future.”
Maine educators discussed the changing nature of teaching, including the growing workload, high expectations from administrators and parents, and challenges managing classrooms with increasing student behavioral challenges.
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But new teachers are also facing barriers entering the profession, the report found. Most Maine teachers are still using traditional routes, including an undergraduate teacher preparation program or certification course after completion of a bachelor’s degree. Options for alternative certification are particularly limited in rural or coastal counties.
The Maine Department of Education said it processed 34,794 applications for certification and/or background check clearance to work in Maine schools during the 2023-2024 school year. While those numbers do not represent approval status of applications — nor the number of certified individuals actually working in Maine — more applications were processed in the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years than in the two years before the COVID-19 pandemic, a department spokesperson said.
“The number and diversity of barriers to becoming a teacher in Maine is astonishing given that there is such an intense workforce shortage – more must be done to alleviate barriers to joining the profession,” the report said.
Recommendations based on educator feedback
The center offered recommendations based on feedback from educators, ranging from quick fixes to large-scale policy changes. One key focus was eliminating barriers to certification, including finding alternative pathways for districts to help ed techs or other school staff pursue teacher certification, accepting out-of-state certifications, and counting prior work experience toward certification.
The State Board of Education, which develops the rules for teacher education and certification, is currently accepting public comments ahead of changes to the state’s certification requirements, Judd said.
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“It’s a really important time for educators to weigh in on how they can make changes to the teacher certification system to support new pathways into the profession, because we do have a pretty traditional pathway into the profession in Maine,” Judd said, adding that he believes there’s “an openness to identifying and making some changes” in order to make it more flexible “but still have rigorous pathways to ensure that we have the best educators all across the state.”
Another proposal is increasing teacher compensation, such as providing financial support for certification, paying student teachers while they’re completing required credits, and raising salaries for teachers and ed techs.
Educator salary increases were considered by the Maine Legislature this past year, though measures to increase minimum teacher and support staff salaries were introduced but died when the session ended.
Finally, the report emphasized the need to bring teachers together for peer learning opportunities, professional development and mentorship to address the complaint that teaching can sometimes feel isolating.
The funding for these initiatives would have to come from partnerships between the state, various nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions, Judd said. While it’s unclear how much, he believes that in order to implement the report recommendations, the state budget would need to include educator workforce reform.
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“It all comes down to mentorship and support,” a teacher from Cumberland County quoted in the report said. “The Center could identify educators who would like to become teachers and help them find those pathways, and then support them through those years when they first start at teaching.”
The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Anna Kellar is the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Maine.
This past November, my 98-year-old grandmother was determined that she wasn’t going to miss out on voting for president. She was worried that her ballot wouldn’t arrive in the mail in time. Fortunately, her daughter — my aunt — was able to pick up a ballot for her, bring it to her to fill out, and then return it to the municipal office.
Thousands of Maine people, including elderly and disabled people like my grandmother, rely on third-party ballot delivery to be able to vote. What they don’t know is that a referendum heading to voters this year wants to take away that ability and install other barriers to our constitutional right to vote.
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The “Voter ID for Maine” citizen’s initiative campaign delivered their signatures to the Secretary of State this week, solidifying the prospect of a November referendum. The League of Women Voters of Maine (LWVME) opposes this ballot initiative. We know it is a form of voter suppression.
The voter ID requirement proposed by this campaign would be one of the most restrictive anywhere in the county. It would require photo ID to vote and to vote absentee, and it would exclude a number of currently accepted IDs.
But that’s not all. The legislation behind the referendum is also an attack on absentee voting. It will repeal ongoing absentee voting, where a voter can sign up to have an absentee ballot mailed to them automatically for each election cycle, and it limits the use and number of absentee ballot dropboxes to the point where some towns may find it impractical to offer them. It makes it impossible for voters to request an absentee ballot over the phone. It prevents an authorized third party from delivering an absentee ballot, a service that many elderly and disabled Mainers rely on.
Absentee voting is safe and secure and a popular way to vote for many Mainers. We should be looking for ways to make it more convenient for Maine voters to cast their ballots, not putting obstacles in their way.
Make no mistake: This campaign is a broad attack on voting rights that, if implemented, would disenfranchise many Maine people. It’s disappointing to see Mainers try to impose these barriers on their fellow Mainers’ right to vote when this state is justly proud of its high voter participation rates. These restrictions can and will harm every type of voter, with senior and rural voters experiencing the worst of the disenfranchisement. It will be costly, too. Taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for a new system that is unnecessary, expensive, and harmful to Maine voters.
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All of the evidence suggests that voter IDs don’t prevent voter fraud. Maine has safeguards in place to prevent fraud, cyber attacks, and other kinds of foul play that would attempt to subvert our elections. This proposal is being imported to Maine from an out-of-state playbook (see the latest Ohio voter suppression law) that just doesn’t fit Maine. The “Voter ID for Maine” campaign will likely mislead Mainers into thinking that requiring an ID isn’t a big deal, but it will have immediate impacts on eligible voters. Unfortunately, that may be the whole point, and that’s what the proponents of this measure will likely refuse to admit.
This is not a well-intentioned nonpartisan effort. And we should call this campaign what it is: a broad attack on voting rights in order to suppress voters.
Maine has strong voting rights. We are a leader in the nation. Our small, rural, working-class state has one of the highest voter turnout rates in the country. That’s something to be proud of. We rank this high because of our secure elections, same-day voter registration, no-excuse absentee ballots, and no photo ID laws required to vote. Let’s keep it this way and oppose this voter suppression initiative.
The chair of the Maine Democratic Party announced Thursday she won’t seek reelection when members select leaders later this month.
Bev Uhlenhake, a former city councilor and mayor in Brewer and former chair of the Penobscot County Democrats, has served as chair of the state party since January 2023. She is also a previous vice chair of the party.
In a written statement, Uhlenhake noted some of the recent successes and challenges facing Democrats, including the reelection of Democratic majorities in both the Maine House and Senate last November, though by narrower margins, and winning three of Maine’s four electoral votes for Vice President Kamala Harris.
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“While we have laid a solid foundation from which Maine Democrats can build toward even greater success in 2026 and beyond, I have decided to step away from Maine Democratic Party leadership for personal and professional reasons, and will not seek reelection,” Uhlenhake said.
Party Vice Chair Julian Rogers, who was also elected to his post in 2023, announced he also won’t seek reelection to leadership, but will resume a previous role he held as vice chair of the party’s committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging.
Democratic State Committee members will vote for the party’s next leaders in elections to be held on Sunday, Jan. 26.
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Special to Seacoastonline | news@seacoastonline.com
AUGUSTA, Maine — Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was sworn into office for her third term Wednesday. Governor Janet Mills conducted the formal swearing-in of all the constitutional officers, which includes Bellows, State Treasurer Joseph Perry, Attorney General Aaron Frey and State Auditor Matthew Dunlap. In her remarks following the swearing-in, Bellows shared a message of transparency and accessibility in continuing to serve the people of Maine. “It is incumbent upon us as elected officials to make government work for the people of Maine,” Bellows said. “We must reduce bureaucracy, improve efficiency, modernize our systems, and above all, bring people together in community to make life better for the people of Maine.”
The Department of the Secretary of State includes three bureaus: The Maine State Archives, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions.
Million-dollar homes: York, Kennebunkport lead York County’s top home sales of 2024
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Bellows emphasized her commitment to ensuring free, safe, and secure elections, modernizing government services, and preserving Maine’s history through the State Archives. She highlighted the importance of standing up for the rule of law and democracy, referring to the legacy of Civil War General Joshua Chamberlain and referencing the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. “This is our Chamberlain moment. We must stand up for the rule of law and do the right thing even when it is hard. As your Secretary of State, I pledge to always ensure that we have free, safe and secure elections and that we adhere to the Constitution and the rule of law in every aspect of everything that we do,” said Bellows. Bellows, Maine’s 50th Secretary of State, previously served two terms in the Maine Senate from 2016-2020 and was the executive director of the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine before her election in 2021.
