Editor:

Congratulations to the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone for placing 12th in the just released US News and World Report listing of America’s best high schools. The school ranked as the top school in New England and the third best magnet school in the country. What makes this school so good? It attracts students from all parts of the state and immerses them in a rigorous curriculum taught by extraordinary teachers who do what it takes to raise the incoming students to their very high standards. My son is currently a senior at MSSM, and he was not a whiz kid at Kennebunk, his sending school. He coasted through, earning decent grades but was completely unchallenged and unmotivated. Then he went to MSSM and found that the bar had been raised. He found that he had to really work to get over that bar. It is now time to raise the bar in all the high schools of Maine!

In a study conducted last year by the ACT, the Iowa testing organization, only 25 percent of students who took four years of college prep classes in high school are prepared to pass introductory college level courses. At the Future of High School Reform summit in October 2008 it was reported that 30 percent of all kids who go to college have to take remedial courses before they can take credit-bearing courses. These are not free, parents pay, kids pay and the state pays. Colleges will continue to take your money until your student graduates, however long that may take.

We are currently in the midst of a major reorganization of school governing bodies in the state. Do we want this effort to improve our system? The typical high school core curriculum is an atavistic remnant of a time when most graduates did not progress to college. The workforce of Maine was for the most part employed in jobs that did not require college. Today, 56 percent of all jobs, and all the better paying jobs, require a college degree. Maine must develop a modern workforce. Educational standards must be set that actually reflect real-world demands. If we do not raise the bar we will not bring jobs to Maine.

The school was the only school in Maine to get a gold ranking (top 100), four schools got silver rankings and five got bronze. US News and World report ranks its high schools based on college readiness. College readiness was assessed by performance on AP (Advanced Placement) or IB (International Baccalaureate) exams. The IB program is a rigorous curriculum based on international standards that prepares students to participate in the global work force. Currently one school in Maine, Kennebunk High School, has implemented the IB program. Six of the top 50 schools in the US News and World report are IB schools. Maine schools should consider the IB program as a way of raising the bar to meet real-world standards. Alternatively, schools should offer, and actively encourage students to take, more AP classes. The school is a testament to how capable the students of Maine can be. Raise the bar and they will jump, leave it where it is and nothing will change. 

Mary Rice Ph.D.

Kennebunkport