Many Educational Priorities Achieved by 132nd Legislature

April 17, 2026

Multiple Educate Maine priorities were achieved by the 132^nd Legislature, which wrapped up its session last week. EM was actively involved in advocating and monitoring many education and workforce development public policy initiatives included in several approved and pending proposals.

The supplemental state budget, LD 2212, was passed and signed by the Governor, and will take effect this summer.

Included in the supplemental budget are provisions to:

• Fund free community colleges this year and language to make that program permanent;
• Support for 55 percent of the total cost of K-12 public education;
• Increase minimum teacher pay to $50,000 annually beginning in 2027/28;
• Add additional one-time funding of $8 million as "a bridge to help stabilize" schools with high rate of studentss in poverty;
• Add additional $2 million in funding for the University of Maine system;
• Provide $2 million in one-time funding to expand the Building Assets Raising Resilience (BARR) Program in public schools;
• Provide $10 million in on-going funding to clear the waitlist of more than 1,000 children eligible for childcare subsidies in the Child Care Affordability Program (CCAP) and provide $611,000 to fund the cost of free school meals to preschool students who receive their public preschool at their child care programs

Other legislative actions on priority education policy include:

LD 2175, which is the legislative review of proposed changes to Maine Department of Education Chapter 115 rules regarding the credentialing of education personnel. Essentially the bill would allow widening the pathways to teacher certification, considered necessary for Maine to recruit and retain educators. This bill was signed by the Governor and will become law in late July.

LD 2015 which requires superintendents to report annually on teacher vacancies. This bill was signed by the Governor and will become law in late July.

LD 2226, which changes Maine's school funding formula for the first time in more than 20 years. The changes are based on a report and recommendations from the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (MEPRI). Major changes include integrating a district's rate of economically disadvantaged students into the formula, updating regional salary adjustments, and adjusting a district's ability to pay based on relative income. These changes will take effect starting in the 2027-2028 school year with delays built in for districts that would lose state funding. 247 of the 262 school districts will receive more state funding as a result of this bill. The next Governor and Legislature will need to fund these changes. This bill has been passed and is awaiting action by the Governor. She has until April 25th to sign or veto this bill.

LD 2114, which adds 3-year-olds to the definition of public preschool. This bill was signed by the Governor and will become law in late July.

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