As a proud graduate of a Maine public school, the mom of two children attending a small rural public school, and a former school board chair, I have seen both the promise and the challenges facing Maine’s schools up close. I’ve also chaired my local school board and that experience reinforced something I carry everywhere: Maine people care deeply about their schools.
Parents and educators across Maine want the same thing — to give every child the opportunity to succeed. As a parent, I’ve asked the same questions families ask every day. Is my child learning what they need to succeed? Will they be prepared for the future? How do we help students who are struggling? And how do we prepare our children for a world being transformed by technology and artificial intelligence?
Every child deserves a great public education, regardless of their ZIP code. Every community deserves strong schools. And every educator deserves the support and respect necessary to help students succeed. That is why strengthening Maine’s public schools will be one of my highest priorities as Governor.
Our goal should be simple and ambitious: make Maine a national leader in educational excellence. We should strive to be among the top states in literacy, mathematics, critical thinking, workforce readiness, and student engagement.
Strong schools require great teachers, educational technicians, bus drivers, school nurses, counselors, and support staff. Maine must adequately fund public education — and do so in a way that stops forcing communities to choose between school quality and rising property taxes. State funding and local tax relief should be complementary, not competing, priorities.
At the same time, we must prepare students for the world they will inherit. Maine graduates roughly 12,000 students each year. Every one of them should leave school ready for success—whether that means college, an apprenticeship, career training, or entering the workforce.
That requires a renewed focus on what matters most: strong reading and math instruction, hands-on learning, career and technical education, critical thinking, problem solving, and real-world skills.
It also requires confronting a challenge unlike any previous generation has faced. Our children are growing up in a world of constant digital distraction and rapidly advancing artificial intelligence. Technology can be a powerful tool, but it should never replace deep learning, human relationships, skilled teaching, or independent thinking.
Maine should lead the nation in developing a human-centered approach to education in the age of AI. We should limit unnecessary classroom distractions, evaluate the impact of excessive screen use, teach students how to use AI responsibly, protect student privacy, and ensure technology serves learning—not the other way around. And as we navigate these changes, teachers must have a seat at the table. The educators working with students every day should help guide how technology and artificial intelligence are used in our classrooms, ensuring these tools support learning rather than dictate it.
Most importantly, we must keep students engaged. When students are healthy, supported, challenged, and connected to their schools, they succeed. That’s why we will continue expanding access to school-based health services, strengthen mental health supports, and create more opportunities for experiential and hands-on learning, career exploration, and meaningful community engagement.
Together, we can build an education system that supports teachers, respects taxpayers, strengthens communities, and prepares every Maine child for a bright future in a changing world. The future of Maine is sitting in our classrooms right now. Our job is to make sure they’re ready for the future—and that Maine is ready for them.
Supporting teachers and school staff is essential to student success. Today’s teachers are educating, mentoring, and supporting students’ mental health—often without the resources they need—while also facing an affordability crisis that makes it harder to live in the communities they serve.
We must implement policies to recruit and retain public school teachers and address the growing teacher shortage.
Quality early childhood education is where we begin building the skills that determine whether a child becomes a confident reader, a strong problem-solver, and a lifelong learner. That means intentionally strengthening early literacy and numeracy from the start—grounded in the science of reading, rich language development, early math exposure, and a strong culture of reading and curiosity in every early learning setting.
Together, my affordability and education plans will ensure every Maine family has access to dependable, affordable, high-quality child care that prepares children for success in kindergarten and beyond. That means expanding access to affordable child care, strengthening high-quality early learning programs across Maine, and supporting the early childhood workforce with the training, stability, and compensation they need to help children thrive—especially in early reading, language, and math development.
By investing early, we ensure children enter school ready to learn, ready to read, and ready to succeed. We will:
Early proficiency in reading and math is one of the strongest predictors of long-term student success. Maine has seen declines in both literacy and numeracy, and while progress has been made, too many students are still not where they need to be.
As Governor, I will work in partnership with educators, school leaders, and communities to accelerate academic recovery and ensure every child has a strong foundation in core skills. We know what works, but we need to ensure every teacher and student has access to the interventions that work.
That means sustained investment in high-quality professional development, instructional coaching, and collaboration time for teachers—designed with educators and grounded in what works in the classroom.
We will also strengthen the use of meaningful student data so schools can identify where students are falling behind, understand what is working, and continuously improve instruction. This is not about more bureaucracy—it is about giving educators the best tools to support their students.
To strengthen literacy, math, and a culture of learning, we will support educators and schools to:
I will ensure that every young Mainer has access by age 20 to a meaningful, hands-on work experience—whether through an internship, paid job placement, for-credit work experience, pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, or similar opportunity. No young person should reach adulthood without a clear pathway into the workforce and a real sense of direction for their future.
These experiences matter beyond job skills — they keep students engaged, especially in middle and high school when futures start taking shape. When learning feels relevant, students stay motivated and finish school with a plan. We will:
As Governor, I will work to build a stronger, more responsive special education system—one that supports educators, partners closely with families, and ensures students receive the services they deserve. By investing in students, educators, and early support systems, we can create schools where every child—regardless of background, ability, or language—has the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed.
As the mother of two teenagers, I see firsthand the pressures young people are facing today and those challenges are clearly reflected in the data.
Over the past two decades, the Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey has shown troubling trends in student mental health, engagement, and overall well-being. Too many young people are struggling with anxiety, depression, loneliness, and disconnection, and schools are often where these challenges first emerge and where support is most urgently needed.
These issues affect not only students’ emotional well-being, but also their ability to learn, build healthy relationships, and succeed over the long term. As Governor, I will invest in programs and supports that strengthen student mental health while also improving students’ sense of belonging, connection, and engagement in school.
That includes expanding access to school-based mental health services, strengthening partnerships with community providers, increasing opportunities for students to connect through extracurricular activities and mentorship programs, and ensuring educators have the training and tools to recognize and respond to students in need.
We will:
Post-secondary education should be within reach for every graduating Maine student—whether they choose to pursue the trades, technical training, or a four-year college degree. Maine’s free community college program has been a game changer for students who might not otherwise have continued their education beyond high school. It expands access to high-quality workforce training in the trades and provides a more affordable pathway to a bachelor’s degree.
We will:
You cannot deliver a great education in buildings that are cold, leaking, or unsafe. Students deserve to learn in safe, modern, energy-efficient, and fully accessible schools.
Right now, Maine’s school construction system is not working as it should. Each year, only a small number of schools receive funding for new construction or major renovation, while many others—often in smaller and rural communities—are left behind because of formula limitations. The result is a system that is uneven, reactive, and too often leaves communities waiting far too long for needed repairs.
We will:
By investing strategically in school facilities, we can ensure that every Maine child learns in a safe, healthy, and modern environment and that communities are not left waiting years for the support their schools need.
We must take a responsible, balanced approach to technology in our classrooms—one that protects student focus, strengthens learning, and prepares students for a rapidly changing digital world.
The implementation of Maine’s bell-to-bell cell phone policy is an important step toward reducing distraction and improving engagement. But it cannot be the end of the conversation. We also need a broader strategy for how technology is used in instruction, how it supports learning, and how we ensure it does not replace deep thinking, creativity, and human connection.
Students need strong foundations in reading, writing, math, critical thinking, and problem-solving. They must also be prepared to navigate a world shaped by artificial intelligence and digital tools. That means teaching students not just how to use technology, but how to question it, understand it, and use it responsibly.
As Governor, I will ensure Maine leads with a thoughtful, educator-driven approach to classroom technology and AI.
We will:
