Lubec, MAINE

Thirty days for sexual contact with a 13-year-old boy. It's a good thing we have sex registration laws.

November 21, 2008 - Lubec Consolidated School teacher Tina Mason, 31, was sentenced to 30 days in jail for having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old boy. She was also given two suspended sentences of 11 months in jail after pleading no contest to charges of assault, sexual abuse of a minor and unlawful sexual touching.

Mason resigned her teaching position at the Lubec school last December after the incident came to light. Lubec school officials had concerns about a possible inappropriate relationship between Mason and one of her students, which proved to be unfounded, but contacted police when their investigation revealed the relationship between Mason and the East Machias boy.

Mason was also ordered to surrender teaching certification and will have to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Prosecutors say Mason, her husband and their two children, ages 6 and 10, were friends with the victim's family.

Lewiston, MAINE

An earlier complaint against him was handled in-house by the school district.
Jury verdict: guilty on all five charges.

Nov 1, 2007 - James G. Raymond Jr., 26, a music teacher at Park Avenue Elementary School, was arrested and charged with unlawful sexual touching, a class D misdemeanor.

The student told police that during a music class in early October, Raymond had moved her from her spot in a semicircle to sit next to him. She said he slid his hand up her skirt and touched her buttocks through the outside of her underwear. She told [Detective Chad] Syphers that Raymond's contact wasn't an accident.

The girl told her mother after school what happened. The mother told the girl she would report it to the school, but later had second thoughts, fearing it could ruin Raymond's teaching career. She decided to wait to see whether there was a repetition of the behavior.

In the meantime, however, the girl told school staff about the incident, and it was reported by them to police. The girl has stuck by her story.

In an interview with police, Syphers said the teacher at first claimed any touching was accidental or innocent in nature. But he later confided that he had an attraction to female students from kindergarten age to third grade.
Full Name: James G. Raymond, Jr.

AN EARLIER COMPLAINT aginst Raymond was handled in-house by the school. Raymond also confided that a federal agency is also investigating him for his online activity involving child pornography and that he had bought memberships at child pornography Web sites. His personal computer had been turned over to federal agents as part of that investigation, which is ongoing, he told Syphers.

TT - Don't miss the comments at the story. Some very, very thoughtful people. The sister of the mother commented as well. The mother was not concerned with the teacher's career but the possibility that it might have been an accident.

A prior story had commenters who praised the teacher and one doubted the girl and suggested she might have acted because of failing grades. The story is available, but not the comments.

Some of the comments from today's story can be found at at "Some things need to change" - at TT-News.

Nov 2 - School district insists an earlier complaint was handled appropriately.

ARRAIGNMENT WAIVED Nov 21 - Raymond was scheduled to be arraigned. It was waived when he pleaded not guilty.

NOT GUILTY PLEA Jan 18, 2008 - Raymond pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from accusations that he touched a student inappropriately.

BAIL CONDITION HEARING March 28 - Raymond wanted bail conditions changed so that he could be in contact with children under age 18. His lawyer explained that the request was made pending Raymond's trial so that he would be able to socialize and "isn't just sitting alone, isolated."

Assistant District Attorney Deborah Cashman objected to the motion.

She said Raymond was a popular teacher whose alleged actions might not be known to all of the parents who had children at the schools where he taught. He has acknowledged that a "little voice" tells him to put his hand up the skirts of young girls, 7 and 8 years old, Cashman said.

In some instances, other teachers were present when Raymond allegedly touched students improperly, she said. Adults need to be trained about how to supervise his contact with children, she said.

She asked that any contact with family members under 18 be supervised.

The judge agreed. See TT - entry Red flags at full mast.

ARRESTED (AGAIN) April 29 - James was arrested on charges of violating his conditions of release. On Sunday, an off-duty investigator spotted Raymond at Wal-Mart, in Auburn. Police said the investigator witnessed Raymond having contact with a person younger than the age of 16, a violation of his bail conditions.

Auburn police obtained security video from Wal-Mart which they said captured the incident.
Police obtained an arrest warrant and took Raymond into custody Tuesday afternoon at his house.

TRIAL August 11 - A jury has been chosen for James' trial. Raymond's lawyer says the trial is slated to begin Monday in Androscoggin County Superior Court.

GUILTY VERDICT - August 21 - A jury found James guilty on all five counts against him. James testified in his own defense, saying that he lied to investigators when he said he was attracted to young girls.

Wiscasset, MAINE

August 12, 2008 - Wayne Stevens, 57, described as "a school teacher from China," was arrested, charged with stalking for allegedly harassing a former co-worker.

Stevens has been employed as a school teacher for more than 20 years in various communities around Maine.

Det. Sgt. Kenneth Hatch discovered during a lengthy investigation that Stevens had continuously harassed and stalked a 20-year-old woman, Brackett said. Stevens allegedly stalked the woman, who was a former co-worker, over a period of several years.

Full Name: Wayne C. Stevens

Monmouth, MAINE

It's Maine. Don't look for logic.

August 8, 2008 - Bizarrely, at a recent hearing, a judge ruled to allow a convicted sex offender, former teacher Christopher Dumaine, 40, receive letters and packages from his victim despite probation donditions that ban contact with the victim.

Dumaine's psychologist testified that those items were beneficial to Dumaine's treatment. Dumaine is currently on probation, the conditions of which ban him from being at his former workplace, Monmouth Academy, and bars contact with the victim. Dumaine's probation officer sought to have items sent from the girl returned and the state wanted to have the probation officer approve the people who supervise that contact. Both were ruled against by lowercase judge justice Nancy Mills.

Dumaine lost his certification to teach in Maine as of Nov. 20, 2007.

TT entry for Dumaine. The girl was 16 at the time of his arrest. He was married. Dumaine will be a registered sex offender for 10 years.

Portsmouth, MAINE

Lowering standards in teaching have convinced even the least-qualified to think that they can be teachers. And they are encouraged by a media with even lower standards to think so.

COMING TO A CLASSROOM NEAR YOU SOON -

May 6, 2008 - A 335-pound lineman at the University of Maine was in court to answer to carjacking charges. Bryan Grier, 23, waived his right to a probable cause hearing and outlined his mental health treatment and career plans.

He is charged with felony theft and misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct and robbery. He's receiving mental health treatment since his arrest for carjacking a jeep from a woman. He also forced another car to stop and demanded the male driver hand over his cell phone so he could call his girlfriend.

His lawyer says that Grier has since returned to the university, where he is finishing his senior year, and is expected to graduate with a degree in child development. He wants to be a teacher.

Every newspaper article, including the sympathetic report of his arrest and another article on his entering a mental health facility to address "what may be the underlying cause of his alleged criminal behavior," end with his good grades and his being recognized for breaking the school record in the squat.
-------------------------
TT - It takes a mental defect to think that anyone with such a history should ever be in a classroom. But chances are he might because more and more states are waiving prior criminal conduct to accept teachers and their behavior. In Oregon, a Senate Committee on Education approved a bill to allow schools to hire teachers who have been convicted of misdemeanor prostitution in the past.

And it isn't just criminal conduct that is accepted. In Massachusetts, the House passed a bill to allow teachers who have failed competency exams three times to appeal and teach anyway. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniel vetoed a similar bill. The teachers union in Dallas is opposed to closing low-performing schools.

What all that tells you is that children are the very last concern of educrats who lower standards, determine that prior criminal history is not a deterrent to becoming a teacher, decide that alcoholism and drug addiction is a disability and teachers convicted of drunk driving four and even five times should still be in the classroom.

Worse, educrats routinely issue dispensation to the guilty in a grand display of beneficence. Suspension where revocation should be dictated is no more than the secular version of the Catholic Church absolving priests of blame for abusing those under their care.

Mandatory reporting laws in all 50 states require teachers and administrators to notify authorities when they have reason to suspect or know of abuse of a child. Yet few are ever charged with failure to report and when they are charged, it's a misdemeanor and does not affect their licenses.

It's an arrogance of power unchecked by public scrutiny because the media largely ignore the problem and politicians who are elected through the efforts and campaign contributions of unions have no interest or incentive to rock the boat and endanger their own well-being.

A society that accepts known drug dealers and addicts to become rap stars and still allow their children to buy the music, and accepts known drug addicts and worse to become movie and t.v. stars and still watch the programs or go to the movie, have little problem accepting teachers with criminal histories and absolutely no aptitude for teaching to be in a classroom.

It's our job - all of us - to say enough is enough.

Windham, MAINE

May 1, 2008 - David Tanguay, 61, a Windham High School biology teacher, pleaded guilty to to one count of possessing child pornography after an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

U.S. Attorney Paula D. Silsby said the case against Tanguay stemmed from the discovery that he had paid for subscriptions to Internet sites containing child pornography. The discovery was made during a nationwide investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Silsby said investigators then interviewed Tanguay, who identified himself as a subscriber to such sites. Tanguay admitted to downloading the images from Web sites, but claimed the material did not interest him, Silsby said, quoting court records.

U.S. Attorney's Press Release (dated May 1, 2008)

Child Pornography and Educators
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.

Bangor, MAINE

An op-ed piece in the Bangor Daily News is food for thought, or amusement, depending on your view of education.

April 11, 2008 - Written by Arnold Greenberg who is described as "co-founder and former director of Liberty School, a Democratic learning community in Blue Hill", but with a byline of BDN staff, sounds reasonable by the title, "How about focusing on students instead of money?"
[The newspaper had no quotes around "Democratic learning community" which says a lot there.]

Around the country new approaches to education are being implemented. The Met Big Picture Schools in Providence, where students are spending most of their day working as interns and apprentices, are being replicated nationally. The Hi-Tech schools in California, where students work on projects they have designed, are growing in number. The Project Based Learning Schools created by Edvisions are growing all over the country. Democratic Schools that involve students in all aspects of running the school and determining their goals are also growing.

All of these schools have one thing in common — they are giving students the opportunity to pursue educational experiences that are relevant to the students’ interests. Learning is more student-directed than teacher-directed. The role of the teacher has changed to facilitator rather than "talking head."

Read the whole thing.
-----------------------------
TT - The school website states that Liberty School is approved by the State of Maine to receive tuition from towns that do not have their own high school. The school has 7 full-time and 5 part-time faculty and 70 students who receive "credit" or "no credit" grading. For parents concerned about college admission transcripts, the FAQ addresses that. It "presents somewhat more work for college admissions offices but on the other hand offer better information than grades."

They don't offer sports either. "Admittedly, our sports program is limited. This is one of the disadvantages of a small school. We offer or have offered soccer, basketball, and cross country. Our students tend to have their own fitness routines --karate, yoga, jogging, biking, etc. Also, some of our special trips and Minimesters feature physical activities."

Whatever you do, do not miss the Liberty Presentation on the admissions page. We're betting the hairy, bearded, hippie dude is Greenberg. It isn't often you see a school that teaches Swahili, Poetry, Cartooning, Human Sustainability, not to mention, What is the Role of Soccer in World Societies.

Greatschools shows the student population is 53.

Lewiston, MAINE

Red flags are at FULL MAST on this one.

March 28, 2008 - A 27-year-old male teacher who is out on bail accused of molesting four students - ages 7 and 8 - wanted his bail conditions changed so that he could have contact with children under age 18 outside his family.

His attorney explained,

[Walter] McKee explained that the request was made pending Raymond's trial so that he would be able to socialize and "isn't just sitting alone, isolated.

The District Attorney objected and asked that even contact with family members under 18 be supervised. The judge agreed.

TT entry for Raymond James

Blue Hill, MAINE

Decades of persistent abuse of children and finally a prosecution.

March 28, 2008 - Howard Evans, 64, pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault and one count of unlawful sexual contact with a teenage male.

A former teacher at Liberty School, an alternative school that closed in December 2007, Evans had been named in two previous lawsuits filed in 2006 and 2007 that allege sexual misconduct. Both civil suits, which have since been settled, sought several thousand dollars in damages. While the financial details of the settlements have not been disclosed.

Evans had been a licensed massage therapist and acupuncturist. He voluntarily surrendered his license to practice last year after a complaint was filed against him with the state of Maine Board of Complementary Health Care Providers alleging “sexual impropriety,” according to a consent agreement.

The surrender of his license was part of the consent agreement with the board, the Maine Attorney General and the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation.
His trial is scheduled tentatively for August 1.

Evans is the former chairman of the Blue Hill Planning Board.
-----------------------------
From The Working Waterfront (June 2007): A support group was formed in March in the Blue Hill community made up of parents, friends, former friends, and colleagues of the accused who also feel angry and betrayed.

The abuse goes back decades. Evans wrote parents in 1996, apologizing for the damage he had done to their son between 1984 and 1986.

In the letter, Evans admitted to “The sexualizing of a deep trust and friendship” and enclosed a check “as a way of creating a final end to the abuse and harm” he had caused. Evans wrote, “What I did to Nat will never happen again with any young person entrusted to my care.”

Bucksport, MAINE

The reason for this story is that so many educators are also facing very long probation sentences and registration as sex offenders. The consequences can last a lifetime.

March 13, 2008 - Travis White, 37, a Bucksport baseball and basketball coach, was convicted in 2002 of sexually assaulting young boys during a decade-long stretch dating back to 1991

After serving six years in prison, he was released late last summer. He wants to move back to take care of his parents, however, prosecutors don’t think White should be allowed to return to a community they say he devastated with his misconduct. White’s probation officer opposes the request on the basis that his parents’ home would be an unhealthy environment. He says that the parents have consistently doubted their son’s culpability in the crimes, and he worried that they would not monitor his behavior.

The District Attorney said the man’s relocation would be traumatic for the victims and the Bucksport community at large.

Ironically, White wants to live in the same basement apartment in his parent's home where he abused the boys who were all under the age of 12.

A judge will determine whether to grant his request. White will be on probation thirty years.

Paris, MAINE

To serve six months for child pornography.

Feb 9, 2007 - Gilbert Telford, 68, a substitute teacher, has been indicted in what police say is the biggest child porn case they've investigated.

Telford was arrested Oct 23 after a complaint from a neighbor gave police probable cause to get a search warrant. Police seized five computers from Telford's home. The Maine Computer Crimes Task Force recovered tens of thousands of pornographic photos and more than 300 digital movies, some with children under 12.
(TT - headline on the Sun-Journal story is mistaken. He has not been convicted, only indicted.)

NOT GUILTY PLEA Mar 15 - Telford pleaded not guilty to child pornography. Police described it as the largest child porn case they had ever investigated. Gilbert Telford was arrested in October after police raided his home and found thousands of explicit pictures and videos on CD's, DVD's and videotapes.

TURNED HIMSELF IN Jan 18, 2008 - Telford turned himself in and was admitted to the jail. Apparently, they reached a plea agreement but the court was canceled due to bad weather. He hasn't even been sentenced yet. The prosecutor believes Telford will serve six months out of a longer sentence. Telford's defense attorney Telford's lack of a criminal record and age were factors in the mitigated sentence.

Police seized five computers from Telford's home, as well as numerous CDs, videos and DVDs. The Maine Computer Crimes Task Force discovered tens of thousands of pornographic photos of children as well as over 300 digital movies, some with children under the age of 12, according to police records.The Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va., identified several missing children through Telford's material. None of the children in the material were local.

[TT - All the more reason why they should have let the Feds prosecute the case because for damned sure he wouldn't get six months in jail.]

GUILTY PLEA and SENTENCING (sorta) Jan 24, 2008 - Telford pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was sentenced (sorta) to serve six months of a five-year prison sentence with six years of probation. He must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Just a reminder: The housekeeper found spiral notebooks with profiles of and descriptions of boys, pornographic titles, Web site addresses, and airline flight schedules.The housekeeper also said Telford only displayed pictures of boys in the house and had asked her if she knew any young boys who could work around the house.

Police seized five computers from the house, as well as books, CDs and DVDs. The Maine Computer Crimes Task Force discovered about 7,500 pornographic pictures and dozens of video clips of prepubescent boys engaged in sexual activity.

Last September, Justice Joyce Wheeler ruled that the materials discovered in Telford's home were admissible as evidence. Defense attorney Walter McKee had argued that there was no evidence linking Telford's computers with child pornography and that the housekeeper had not reported seeing any child pornography in the house.

TT - The same judge sentenced (sorta) Amy Bramwell.

Child Pornography and Teachers
TT - List sentenced for child pornography.
TT - List guilty but not yet sentenced for child pornography.

Anson, MAINE

Jan 23, 2008 - Frank Gleason, 60, a assistant principal and athletic director at Carrabec High School, pleaded guilty to to sexual abuse of a 15-year-old Carrabec student. The open plea means that the judge will determine the sentence.

Gleason admitted in a taped phone conversation to sexual contact with the boy that occurred on the night of Dec. 21, when Gleason gave him a ride home following a basketball game. Gleason pulled the boy toward him, hugging, kissing him and then fondling him. The sexual abuse charge is a misdemeanor.

He also has stepped down as pastor of Maranatha Assembly in Anson. Gleason's lawyer is Josh Tardy of Newport, Republican leader in the state House of Representatives.
Full Name: Frank "Skip" Gleason III

Assistant principal charged with sexual abuse of a minor (Dec 24, 2007)

Gleason story was not a good Christmas gift (Dec 31, 2008)
A reader berates the newspaper for making the story front page the day before Christmas. "Gleason III did not deserve this kind of humiliation, nor does anyone, over something that is so sensitive, before one is found guilty or innocent."

Windham, MAINE

TRUST US WITH YOUR CHILDREN

Jan 11, 2008 - The town counselor says that he heard that a school bus driver told a supervisor that he was despondent about his divorce and wanted to kill himself. He was told to pick up 51 students anyway, then report back to the office.

In their defense, the district Superintendent says that's not exactly right.

In statement released today, they say the bus driver told his supervisor that he was resigning because he was upset over a personal matter, but would make his last morning run. He then added that he "had a gun in the woods".

The superintendent's office says the driver got back on the bus while his supervisor was on the phone and the supervisor then called police.

The town counselor wants a town meeting to get more information.

TT - We can tell you right now, bud, if this was a tenured teacher, you wouldn't learn squat even if he'd killed himself in the school cafeteria with a cannon in front of 95 elementary schoolers. But since it's a bus driver who is probably not unionized, they'll eventually give over his whole personnel file, complete with a PowerPoint presentation. But any questions about the what the supervisor did are strictly none of your business.

You just need more experience with an educational bureaucracy.

Augusta, MAINE

A travesty.

Jan 9, 2008 - The District Attorney condemned the sentence given Andrew Dumont, 27, for of gross sexual assault of a 7-year-old boy. He called the sentence "light" and "disappointing." Dumont was a teacher at the time of the assault in 2005 and was visiting family over the Christmas holiday.

Dumont was found guilty in September. The prosecution called for 20 years with all but 12 years suspended. Justice Nancy Mills sentenced Dumont to 15 years with all but three years suspended.

The prosecutor said he believes Mills is a good judge, but he is concerned because the Dumont case is only the latest in which a judge has handed down what he feels is a light sentence to a sex offender.

"This is one of the most difficult cases after trial to reconcile the actual sentence with what actually happened to a very young child," said [District Attorney Evert N.] Fowle.

A law that went into effect about seven months after Dumont abused the boy requires judges to use a base sentence of 20 years. That base sentence can be made longer or more shorter depending on aggravating or mitigating factors.

That law was passed after the crime occurred, but Fowle said the intent of the Legislature was clearly to impose tougher sentences on sex offenders.

The prosecutor said he felt even that sentence was restrained given the facts of the case and the passage of a new law calling for tougher sentences for sex offenders.

TT - another sentencing by Mills.
The District Attorney recommended a sentence of five years, with all but two years suspended and eight years' probation. She sentenced Ryan J. Gauthier, 28, to three years in jail, with all but one year suspended, and eight years of probation for sexually abusing a girl half his age.

(And he'll have to do 100 hours of community service.) Comment at story: "Sad. you can get more time for growing marijuana than rape. what a country."

Portland, MAINE

Dec 23, 2007 - At Yarmouth High School, 17-year-old Zach Hynes has been working with other students to persuade the school board to make a course in Chinese available next fall.

Chinese is now offered at 10 secondary schools in Maine, six of which started courses this school year.

Last month, Maine Education Commissioner Susan Gendron signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese government educational agency to promote educational collaboration between China and Maine, such as having Chinese teachers come to the state to teach, said Don Reutershan, world languages specialist with the state Department of Education.

While 214 Maine high school students now study Chinese, it appears that more would like to do so. The school wants to apply for a grant to help pay for the language teacher from China.

TT - It would be interesting to find out who funds the courses in Chinese. We found out, purely by accident, that Belgium and France have have funded Louisiana’s foreign language program for many years.

The beauty of working in Maine is that teachers there get 15-17 paid sick leave days for a 185 average work year. The Portland Maine school board also wants to hand out contraceptives to 11 to 13 year olds in the middle school as well. (TT LINK and LINK )

Maine, too, was the only state that would not release information about why teachers licenses were revoked to the Associated Press for their November series on teacher discipline. We particularly loved the 21-year-old Brunswick High School graduate with 18 criminal convictions in the past two years who ran for school board in Brunswick, Maine.

But our all-time favorite blog entry is Richard Beebe who told an undercover officer that he got excited from touching his granddaughter's buttocks and sent a picture of a 9-year-old at the school to the undercover officer. He had child pornography pictures of children as young as five years old on his computer. He ended up being sentenced to 60 days of a one-year prison sentence.

The symbol is at the top is cai - wealth, money. Chinese often say money can make a ghost turn a millstone. It is to say money really can do a lot of things.

Monmouth, MAINE

INDICTED Oct 12, 2007 -
Christopher Dumaine, 39, an English teacher at Monmouth Academy has been indicted on charges of having sex with a 16-year-old female student. The arraignment followed his indictment on two harges of gross sexual assault and two charges of unlawful sexual contact.

Dumaine resigned from Monmouth Academy in a one-line resignation letter effective Sept. 17, according to the Monmouth School Committee He pleaded not guilty.

ARRESTED AGAIN Oct 23 - Dumaine was arrested and charged with violating conditions of his bail.

Court documents filed by the Kennebec County Deputy District Attorney Alan Kelley say police saw Dumaine and the girl together on the private road leading to her house.

“Detective Adam Kelley recognized the victim as she exited the defendant’s vehicle, and told her to go to her residence as he took the defendant into custody,” according to the state’s motion to revoke Dumaine’s bail. The girl told officers “she did not want to say anything that would get the defendant in trouble,” the same document says.

Oct 25 - Prosecutors agreed Dumaine would be held without bail with the right to request a bail hearing at a later date. When he does so, prosecutors will pursue a motion, filed Tuesday, to revoke Dumaine's bail.

GUILTY PLEA & SENTENCING Nov 13 - Dumaine pleaded guilty to two counts each of gross sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact and one count of violating a condition of release. He was sentenced (sorta) to four years in jail, with all but the nine months suspended.

Nov 14 From the Sun Journal: Dumaine must also register as a sex offender for the next 10 years.

TT - posters at the news story were mildly disgusted at the student who sat in the court room with her parents. She wrote a letter to the judge asking to see Dumaine once she turned 18. It prompted this response.

Seems she was and is more then willing in this situation and she sat with her parents. I wonder if they approve of this affair? They actually let her submit this letter?
Welcome to Maine, breeding ground for Jerry Springer episodes

Nov 27 - Dumaine has lost his state teacher certification.

State law prevents officials from issuing information about the status of a teaching certificate — whether it's suspended or revoked.

Education Department spokesman David Connerty-Marin said he could confirm that Dumaine is no longer certified to teach in Maine, but could provide nothing more than the dates of certification.Dumaine was last certified to teach on Nov. 20, Connerty-Marin said, eight days after he pleaded guilty.

Gov. John Baldacci has vowed to propose legislation to change confidentiality provisions in a 1913 state law that keeps secret the reasons why teachers have lost their certification. The law came to light after an Associated Press report showed Maine was the only state that did not release information about why teachers lost certification.

LAWSUIT Dec 10 - A judge froze $800,000 in Dumaine's assets, an attachment requested by litigants who are suing Dumaine. The victim's parents and stepfather have sued. Dumaine is in divorce proceedings.

Disgusting

Trust the New York Times-owned Boston Globe to champion the wife of Maine's Attorney General for her support of Portland's proposed policy to supply birth control and abortions to 11-year-olds.

Oct 28, 2007 - Even while district attorney Stephanie Anderson is warning the school health clinics that that they were illegally failing to report underage sex, the Boston Globe profiled Amanda Rowe and her outspoken support for the program. Their source was a glowing article in the Portland Press Herald.

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TT - In an age where readers were allowed input into newspapers, when facts were eagerly explored, topics debated, and ethics and morality were guidelines and active quests for most people, the school attorney, not the flamboyant activist, would have been profiled as a champion of decency.

Rowe and her husband have four children.

These are the middle schools in Portland, Maine. Not one is academically decent. They can provide sex education, condoms, abortions and birth control to every student if they want, but it isn't going to help students learn to read or find joy in education. It won't help students achieve self-sufficiency in this world, for themselves or their future families.

King Middle School ** the school for which the policy is proposed
66% white 19% black 11% Asian
Rates a 6
473 students

Lincoln Middle School
75% white 12% Asian 9% black 3% Hispanic
Rates a 5
513 students

Lyman Moore Middle School
88% white 5% black 5% Asian 1% Hispanic
Rates a 5
591 students

West School
83% white 8% black 4% Hispanic 4% Amer Indian
Unrated
49 students

Some 41% of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch program in the entire school district. In King Middle School, the figure is 61%.

What is becoming abundantly clear about such policies is that they are, at heart, eugenics disguised as a caring social policy. It's all right for Rowe and her husband to have four children, but clearly other people should limit their reproduction. That is the point of birth control for children. Teach them NOT to have children. Teach them early how to terminate children as casually as you take out the garbage.

And then count on those same children to drop out before high school because, academically, they haven't been prepared for anything else. Look at the graduation rates for this district (from Standard & Poor's Schoolmatters.com)

In a state where the general population is 95% white, it is very, very hard not to conclude that those in power would like to keep it that way.

Background
See the following for background on the school policy. Link Link

In the 1890s when public schools were formed, the overriding goal was to take uneducated immigrant populations, assimilate them, teach them values that would make them middle class, give them academic skills that would be a ladder for social mobility, and teach them respect for others and themselves.

Schools taught students how to think for themselves, how to speak in public, formulate ideas of their own. Schools equipped students for a future of their own choosing that didn't include overpriced, mediocre colleges hyped by supermarket magazines, a non-education that burdens them with a school loan debt for years and the only skill they learn is how to pass mediocrity onto others via the classroom.

Teaching an 11-year-old how to take birth control pills, seek an abortion at school without parents being any the wiser, encouraging adult males to prey on young girls without the inconvenience of that nasty pregnancy, all with government approval, is disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.

Brunswick, MAINE

Oct 23, 2007 -

A 21-year-old Brunswick High School graduate with 18 criminal convictions in the past two years, including five theft charges, is trying to convince voters he's changed enough to represent them in an at-large seat on the town's School Board.

TT - It's Maine. We give him a 50 - 50 chance.

Fruit Loops in Maine

Some criticisms of a Portland, Maine middle school's plan to provide birth control to 11 year-olds has resulted in a proposal from one committee member to raise the age to 14 (age of legal consent in Maine) for those who will be provided the pill or patches, and notify parents to allow them to block access to the school program.

One poster at the story observed,

I find myself reflecting on the story of birth control in our middle schools. Although the thought has crossed my mind that there are indeed some children out there who are engaging in sexual activity quite young, and those whose parents certainly would lack appropriate responses. Yes, I'm talking about those who would be abusive should they be approached by their children about such a topic. I can't help but wonder how we as a society can consider giving birth control to children as young as eleven years old.

These are the same children who cannot drive, cannot drink, cannot smoke, cannot obtain medical care in an emergency room with a parents consent, nor can they even go to the movie theater to an R-rated movie and in some cases not even a PG-13 rated movie. Yet, we are considering giving them birth control devices, allowing abortions (a surgical procedure that can have detrimental side effects and ramifications) without a parents knowledge.

I recently found out that the age of consent in Maine is only 14 years of age. How, I have to ask can a child who cannot see an R-rated movie, consent to sexual activities? I have to wonder if we feel the need to shield a child from these themes in movies; can we hand them the devices to assist them in participating in these very activities? I also must wonder whether any consideration has been given to the children who will suffer allergic reactions from these, i.e. allergies to synthetic progesterone, latex, or even a reaction caused by the combination of birth control pills with another medication that a child is taking. What of introducing these chemicals into a young body just entering puberty?

Yes, I'm quite aware that some kids will engage in sexual activities, regardless of what is made available to them, regardless of parenting, however I am deeply disturbed that our schools would participate in making this an easier door to open.

Another comment, "I hope this doesn't stop recall efforts in Portland." AND,

It seems that in todays "indoctrination" centers for children, the primary purpose should be, "education", not being introduced to drugs, sex and bypassing the parents moral values.

TT - Someone cynically noted that this proposal to limit the program was timed to reduce outrage before the November election. A true judge of the community will be how the community votes in November. People don't get the government they deserve, they get the government they tolerate.

Previous TT coverage here.

Portland, MAINE

Pseudo-Outrage of the Day

It would be an outrage anyplace else, but in Maine, it's kinda par for the course.

Oct 16, 2007 -

If the [Portland School] committee approves the King [Middle School] proposal, it would be the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to some students in grades 6 to 8, said Nancy Birkhimer, director of teen health programs for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Most middle schoolers are ages 11-13.

The need:

Of 134 students who visited King's health center during the 2006-07 school year, five students, or 4 percent, reported having sexual intercourse, said Amanda Rowe, lead nurse in Portland's school health centers.

"This is a service that is totally needed," Rowe said. "It's about very few kids, but they are kids who don't have the same opportunities and access as other students."

The percentage of middle school students in Maine who reported having sexual intercourse dropped from 23 percent in 1997 to 13 percent in 2005, according to the Maine Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

King Student Health Center's practice of providing condoms as part of its reproductive health program since it opened in 2000.

TT - Believe us, these people are proud of this.