During a debate in 2010, then-gubernatorial candidate Bill Beardsley said he supported teaching creationism in school. On Monday, he said he doesn’t think schools should teach it.
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.
Maine’s high school graduation rate above national average
The state ranks 16th in the nation and is one of 36 that saw increases in the overall graduation rate.
Maine high schoolers flock to early college programs
Participation is at a record level as various courses give students a way to cut tuition costs, get a taste of what’s ahead or help decide whether to pursue a degree.
Former Husson University President William Beardsley named acting Maine education commissioner
He briefly served as the state’s conservation commissioner in 2011-12.
Ogunquit Halloween display pokes fun at long-running road work on Route 1
A television station gets one complaint, but construction workers on the job Thursday say they take no offense from the ghoulish display.
Two of four Maine charter school applicants move to next stage
Three spots remain before Maine hits the 10-school cap for charter schools.
State testing for strain of E. coli that sickened 2 toddlers in Maine
As samples are gathered in the field and lab work is done, one boy is in fair condition but another child has died. Both had visited a fair’s petting zoo.
Maine school officials say program is helping raise test scores, reduce discipline problems
The program is a collaborative approach targeting ninth-graders that has brought discipline problems down, officials say.
Cape Elizabeth teacher named 2016 Maine Teacher of the Year
Third-grade teacher Talya Edlund is the only one at Pond Cove Elementary School who is surprised to learn she is the state’s top teacher.
Pain produces big gains for UMaine System – projected deficit drops by $37 million
The chairman of the trustees says the board must focus on eliminating the deficit, ideally by 2019.