Topsham, Maine — Angus King III today released a comprehensive education plan at his elementary school, Williams-Cone, centered on early literacy, workforce readiness, and stronger support for Maine teachers—paired with a call for urgency and practical, results-driven reform.
“Our kids don’t get these years back,” said King. “We need to get back to basics, focus on what works, and make sure every child can read by the end of third grade.”
The plan sets a clear goal of universal third-grade reading proficiency using the science of reading, with an all-hands-on-deck approach involving parents, teachers, communities, businesses, and students themselves. It also embraces technology that helps teachers succeed in the classroom.
King’s proposal expands career-connected learning so every student graduates with a clear plan—whether that’s a job, apprenticeship, training, military service, or college—so they are ready for their best possible future.
“We are competing with the whole world,” King said. “Maine should have the best-trained, best-prepared workforce in America—and that starts in our schools.”
To improve classroom environments, the plan calls for no cell phones and social media during school hours, increasing time for learning and outdoor activity, and strengthening student mental health supports.
“If we want better outcomes, we need to support teachers and create classrooms where students can actually focus and learn,” King said.
To address Maine’s teacher shortage, King proposes reducing certification barriers, reinstating conditional licenses, creating new pathways into teaching—including a “Cooper Flagg Rule” for talented individuals—and improving pay, training, and career advancement opportunities. The plan also calls for paying student teachers and rewarding excellence in the profession.
“Great teachers should be supported, developed, and paid like the professionals they are,” King said.
The proposal also emphasizes clear accountability and transparency for parents, with early intervention for students not reading by the end of third grade.
“Accountability isn’t about blame—it’s about helping support struggling schools and making sure every child gets what they need to succeed,” King said.
King’s plan calls for smarter investment in school infrastructure, broader use of school facilities for community and workforce needs, and exploration of year-round career and technical education.
Finally, the plan proposes a deeper look at innovation in education, including lessons from charter schools and other models that better serve students in a changing world.
“We need to be willing to innovate, learn from what’s working, and act with urgency,” King said.
Pre-K to 22: Creating the best educated, best trained workforce in America, to attract and retain younger people to Maine.
An Action Plan for our Kids:
- Back to Being the Best – All Hands on Deck: Every Maine student reading by the end of 3rd grade using the science of reading – a responsibility of parents, communities, businesses, teachers and kids all working together, starting early and making sure kids get to school in the first place. In addition, let’s not be afraid of technology tools that give teachers superpowers in a classroom. Time is short—we can’t stay behind, and while some people are focused on banning books, I just want to make sure they can read.
- Training for Every Child’s Chosen Path: We need to provide earlier and broader access to career-connected learning, so that every child graduates with a job, a training plan, an apprenticeship or a college plan. Maine currently has over 30,000 open jobs, and we’re not teaching our kids enough about them today. It is critical that we also prepare them for an AI future, wielding it like a powerful tool. We’re already behind, and need to have some urgency. Let’s be known as the best trained, best prepared, most powerful workforce in America.
An Action Plan for our Teachers:
- Fight Against Attention Fracking: No cell phones in classrooms. No social media during school hours. Today, kids spend less time outdoors than prisoners do, and in Maine, they spend fewer hours in school than most other states—let’s change both. And let’s support their mental health needs while we’re at it, which in turn supports teachers, parents and fellow students.
- Make it Easier to Teach: We’re short on teachers, yet we make it overly difficult for them to enter and stay in the professions. Let’s reduce the certification pain, reinstate conditional licenses, and institute a “Cooper Flagg Rule” – someone with great talent should be able to teach.
- Support and Develop Teachers: Teachers should be paid more, especially early on. Let’s create better career paths and training for teachers, so that instead of just earning more work, they can earn better pay. We should do more to recognize great teachers – and pay them more for being exceptional—and pay student teachers too.
An Action Plan for our Communities and our Schools:
- Accountability and Action: Provide clear and transparent results for parents, and accountability measures for schools and teachers, with early intervention tools especially for children unable to read by the end of 3rd grade. Everyone needs to be invested, and we need to support teachers, especially those that are our best, to reach each child. Accountability and high expectations aren’t about blame, but an opportunity to engage every person involved in making children thrive.
- Innovation in Infrastructure: We need to be smarter in how we invest in maintaining and utilizing our schools. Our current system is like a lottery, with big winners and many losers, and there’s difficult work ahead on how we use and maintain the spaces we have. At a minimum, let’s figure out how to use schools all day and all year for community needs and consider year-round CTE.
- Innovation in Approach: Our entire educational model is one that was designed over a century ago and isn’t adapted to today’s kids or the world’s needs. Let’s do a deep dive on Maine’s charter schools to see where there’s been success, how we can innovate and try new approaches, perhaps starting with kids who are least suited to the current model. We’re competing with the whole world—let’s learn from what’s working out there too.