They want the city to fully fund a $60 million bond to upgrade four elementary schools in Portland.
Noel K. Gallagher
Noel Gallagher covers K-12 and higher education issues statewide. Her stories are a mix of breaking news and trend stories. In recent years, they’ve ranged from why college costs so much, the launch of the state’s first charter schools, how a school welcomed a transgender student and why Maine schools have a hard time finding teachers. She’s enough of a news nerd to enjoy sitting through legislative education committee meetings and hours-long school board meetings so you don’t have to.
The Maine Press Association has honored Noel’s work, but she says she writes for the readers, in the firm belief that an informed citizenry is key to a healthy democracy.
Noel is a California native who has worked at wire services, online websites and newspapers across the country. She was in Washington D.C. during the early Clinton years, covering AIDS activism in 1990s San Francisco, documenting the business of wine in Sonoma County and riding out the boom and bust cycle of the early Internet era in early 2000s Silicon Valley. She arrived in Maine at the beginning of the recession and wrote quite a bit about the downturn here.
In her free time, Noel writes the occasional cookbook review, spends an inordinate amount of time at the Portland Public Library and hangs out with her three fabulous kids and wonderful husband. She is not a former member of the band Oasis.
‘I believe in this,’ says founder of homegrown global health mission. So do many others
Partners for World Health, which sends discarded-but-usable medical supplies to people all over the world, is growing so fast that a donor bought the organization a larger facility.
Maine court system signs deal with Tyler Technologies to computerize records
The 10-year, $15 million contract will shift state courts away from their paper-based system in stages.
State rejects Portland’s effort to get school construction funds
Projects at Reiche and Longfellow elementary schools just miss the state cutoff for the current funding cycle.
LePage’s designated education chief to step down
William Beardsley, who cited family reasons, has led the department as a deputy since his nomination for the commissioner post met resistance.
Angus King ‘open-minded but skeptical’ about Trump’s latest picks for Cabinet
Meeting with the Press Herald editorial board, the senator calls Rick Perry’s vow to abolish the Energy Department ‘troubling’ and expresses concern about Rex Tillerson’s ties to Russia.
Maine’s progressive nonprofits see post-election surge in donations, volunteers
It’s a way of being heard, experts say: ‘Apparently the sixth stage of grief is activism.’
Do you know if your public school has tested its water for lead?
Not all Maine districts are required to check lead levels and there’s no database indicating which have done so, what they found or what corrective actions were taken.
Most Maine students proficient in English, science, new test shows
The results of the statewide tests for students in grades three through eight can’t be compared to results from previous tests.
LePage cites possibility – but not evidence – of fraud as he casts doubt on election results
Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap says, ‘The integrity of Maine’s elections is not in question’ and there is no evidence of malfeasance.