Trustees rely on higher state aid and reserve funds to make the freeze possible. Maine is the only state to have no tuition increases, adjusted for inflation, in the past five years.
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.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
USM trustees keep options open for ‘white houses’ on Portland campus
President David Flanagan says the university should consider holding on to the land while selling or leasing the seven single-family residential homes.
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Posted inLocal & State, News
N.J. college administrator named president of USM
Harvey Kesselman says his top priorities are increasing student recruitment and retention in order to boost enrollment and tuition revenue.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
N.J. college administrator named USM president
Harvey Kesselman says his top priority is increasing student recruitment and retention in order to boost tuition revenue.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Portland superintendent proposes 1.2 percent increase in school budget
Emmanuel Caulk tells the School Board that the 2015-16 budget reflects a nearly $1 million reduction in state funding, based on the governor’s proposed state budget.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
USM president predicts more budget woes
David Flanagan says despite deep cuts, ‘what we’ve done, at best, is bought you a year.’
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
USM plans to sell its ‘white houses’ in Portland to cut costs
The houses, formerly residential, are now used as faculty and staff offices. The university hopes to sell them for a total of $1.2 to $1.4 million.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Cash-strapped UMaine System faces choice: tap emergency fund or raise tuition
The university system’s top financial officer tells trustees that if tuition doesn’t increase, $9 million will have to come from reserves to balance the 2015-16 budget.
Posted inNews, Politics, Schools and Education
Bill aims to change how test scores are used to evaluate Maine teachers
The head of the teachers union agrees with Maine officials that scores from the state’s assessment test have to play a part to meet federal rules.
Posted inLocal & State, Schools and Education
Plan for Portland high schoolers to use Metro buses gets support
Under a cost-sharing agreement, the Portland school district would cover the cost of bus fares for any high school student to ride the Metro to and from school.