University of Maine Orono President Paul Ferguson said the flagship campus of the UMaine system is undergoing a focused drive to cut costs while improving the student experience and working aggressively with the state and its businesses. Called the “Blue Sky Project,” Ferguson described the year-long process of honing the priorities of the university amid […]
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 inNews, Politics
Teachers union balks at push for unlimited charter schools
Gov. LePage plans to introduce legislation this session to lift the current cap of 10 schools in the next 10 years.
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Posted inNews
LePage’s $35.5 million cuts hit nearly every agency
Public schools and health and human services will take the brunt since they account for most of the two-year budget.
Posted inNews
Windham police identify alleged cop impersonator
Steven Shaw, 26, allegedly posed as a police officer to extort a man out of an undisclosed amount of money.
Posted inNews
Report endorses statewide standards for Maine teacher evaluations
Evaluations have traditionally been left to local districts. Now, districts will continue to oversee the process, but will have to meet the new state standards.
Posted inBusiness, News
Hannaford names new president
Brad Wise, who attended USM, will take control as parent company Delhaize streamlines management.
Posted inBusiness
Innovative website helps students find right college
The Freeport company’s clients are high schools, which input students’ grades and test scores and helps find matches based on personalized needs.
Posted inNews
Portland School Board nominates Caron for chairman
District 4 representative Justin Costa was nominated as Finance Committee chairman.
Posted inBusiness, News
CEO of Bar Harbor Bankshares to step down
Joseph Murphy, who has led Bar Harbor since 2002, said he would step down in June 2013.
Posted inNews
Maine teachers say new restraint rule leads to assaults by students
Educators say a new mandate is making them overly cautious, and the instances of teachers being assaulted by students since the rule took effect have been in the “dozens.”