Maine’s gubernatorial candidates agree on education challenges, but not solutions

ButAnd while Republican Bobby Charles agrees on the need to support teachers and achieve stronger academic outcomes, he blames those challenges on “woke indoctrination” in classrooms, and proposes that schools end equity-based initiatives and return to traditional learning models.

The future governor will inherit a public education system that is grappling with the consequences of federal disinvestment. Staffing cuts at the U.S. Department of Education have disrupted special education assistance to schools. Programs that improved student mental health were cut due to ideological differences, and an ongoing lawsuit over the state’s transgender athlete policy further threatens federal support.

Bennett and Pingree’s responses to Maine Morning Star’s questions on education policy show they support strategies that include increasing teacher salaries and relying on evidence-based learning, as well as protecting Maine’s inclusive laws and continuing the state’s commitment to 55% of public education funding.

Alternately, Charles has advocated for a national Republican-led agenda that includes curriculum transparency, parental involvement in education and the end of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, calling it his “no-nonsense” plan.

“While schools across the state of Maine face infrastructure challenges and workforce concerns, including teacher recruiting retention and morale, the biggest challenge we face is reversing the downward slide in objective outcomes,” he said in a statement to Maine Morning Star. 

“We need a major reset that lets teachers focus on the fundamentals and clear away the anxieties and distractions that come with politicians trying to use classrooms as laboratories for social experiments.”

Pingree secures union endorsement

On Aug. 6, the Maine Education Association endorsed Pingree, with union member Sarah Abronze saying she “listens to educators on the front lines and truly wants to understand and fix the challenges we face.”.

“From serving nine years on her local school board to serving as a speaker of the House, she has an unblemished 100% MEA voting record, backing legislation that supports educators, students, public schools, and our universities in Maine,” Abronze added.

The MEA has had a long history of supporting Democratic candidates, including Mills’ re-election in 2022. Ahead of the gubernatorial primary, Pingree was not one of the three candidates the union endorsed, instead backing Shenna Bellows, now-U.S. Senate nominee Troy Jackson and former public health leader Nirav Shah. 

Bennett and Charles said they were not surprised by the endorsement.

Bennett said the union “always endorses the Democratic candidate, regardless of his or her credentials, plans, or support of public schools.”

Charles’ campaign manager, Dale Crafts Jr., said the Republican “will earn the support of thousands of individual teachers while their union bosses play the same political games in Augusta that have our state in a perpetual state of failure.”

MEA President Jesse Hargrove explained that the process for choosing a candidate to endorse 

in the general election — which will not be determined using ranked-choice voting like the gubernatorial primaries were —  was separate from the primary selection criteria.

Both Pingree and Bennett responded to an MEA questionnaire and were interviewed by members, who cast secret ballots to choose their preferred candidate, Hargrove explained. Charles’ team said he never received the questionnaire, although the MEA disputed that.

The union emailed Charles’ team twice, in October and November of last year, emails obtained by Maine Morning Star show. He did not respond to either invitation to participate in the endorsement process, Hargrove said. 

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Pingree and Bennett’s voting records as lawmakers were also considered while making the choice, Hargrove said. According to the most recent scorecard the educator union published in 2025, Bennett, a senator representing Oxford County, scored about 50% because he voted against the Democrat-led budget supported by the union, opposed a plan to improve teacher mentoring programs, and voted in favor of an unsuccessful school voucher program bill.

At the endorsement event in Augusta earlier this month, Pingree committed to building on her support for public education and teachers.

“Public education determines the trajectory of our economy, our communities, and our democracy,” Pingree said. “The future of this state — it’s sitting in classrooms. Our job is simple: get our kids ready for the future, and get Maine ready for them.”

Educational outcomes

All three candidates agreed that Maine’s test scores — which hit an all-time low in national 2024 assessments and have slightly improved in more recent state results — indicated that students need more robust instruction in reading and math. The Maine Department of Education took on an initiative to help districts use more evidence-based learning methods last year, which experts say is a step in the right direction. 

Both Bennett and Pingree said they would rely on screenings and early interventions to help tackle poor academic outcomes. 

“Too many students fall behind in reading and math early and don’t get help quickly enough,” Bennett said in his written response. “I support regular screening, faster intervention, high-quality instructional materials, evidence-based teacher support, and better data so schools and families can act sooner.”

Pingree said she would also invest in “sustained professional development and instructional coaching for teachers, grounded in the science of reading and strong math instruction.”

Charles also expressed concern about plummeting test scores, but blamed it on Democratic ideology replacing traditional learning in Maine classrooms.

“Success in education must again be measured by motivating students to love learning (and) graduate with the skills they need to succeed, and maximizing freedom for teachers to teach, elevating both teacher morale and student performance in life after graduation,” he said.

School mental health

Maine schools are struggling with increasing student mental health challenges while federal resources that help districts hire and train staff to address these issues are being cut. 

“Many of our school districts are relying on federal funding for certain programs,” Hargrove said. “If that federal funding is in jeopardy, we’re going to have to be relying on state and local funding to make up that deficit.”

Both Pingree and Bennett said they would invest in expanding school-based mental health, including hiring staff.

Bennett said he would add mental health clinician and counselor ratios to the education funding formula so schools can hire needed staff with more state support. He also supports tiered frameworks currently used by schools that allow educators to offer personalized support based on student needs.  

Pingree also supports investments in student mental health, including expanding school-based health centers and telehealth access, especially in rural communities where care is hard to reach. 

“I will invest in after-school programs, sports, and music, ending pay-to-play barriers so every child, regardless of income, has the chance to connect, belong, and thrive,” she added.

When asked if he would support increasing mental health funding, Charles pointed out that counseling services are already “part of the state funding formula, and this is something that is very individualized to each student and school.”. But he also singled out counseling students about gender identity, which has been subjected to scrutiny and lawsuits by Maine parents in the past.

“Is there anything more stressful for a student than a school counselor convincing them to take steps to change their gender without informing their parents?” he added. “We need to focus on loving students just the way they are and not encouraging them to believe there is something wrong with them at such a young age.”

Inclusive education

Both Pingree and Bennett oppose changing Maine law that explicitly protects the rights of trans athletes to play on sports teams and use school facilities aligning with their gender identity. Despite President Donald Trump’s administration targeting Maine for its policy, both said if elected that they would uphold that law.

“That’s not up for negotiation because Donald Trump wants to bully our state into compliance by threatening to pull federal funding our schools and kids depend on,” Pingree said. 

“As a mom whose own kids play and love sports, I know these issues are personal for families across Maine, on every side. But withholding funding from schools, meals programs, and kids to score political points isn’t leadership. It’s bullying, and Maine shouldn’t cave to it.”

Bennett also voted against state-level attempts to roll back those protections last year, breaking from his Republican colleagues before he left the party to run as an independent for governor.

He said he believes “schools should provide a safe and respectful learning environment for every student,” adding that laws should not change while there is pending litigation.

Charles has been outspoken in his opposition to Maine’s law. He supported a failed referendum aiming to restrict trans students’ rights to athletics, bathrooms and locker rooms, and has vowed to “drop the Title IX lawsuit” with the federal government.

“As an attorney and someone who believes in common sense, I think we should always follow the law, whether I agree with it or not,” he said when asked if he would attempt to change the Maine Human Rights Act if elected. “As far as working to change them, what I will not do is engage in petty arguments and insults with the federal government that sends hundreds of millions of dollars each year to our local public schools.”

Teacher salaries 

After many years of educators pushing for higher pay amid chronic staffing shortages, Maine recently raised minimum teacher salaries to $50,000 by 2029. Bennett, a co-sponsor of that bill, said it’s not enough, though added that “pay alone doesn’t solve the workforce crisis.”  

“Maine also needs to improve retention and strengthen the teacher pipeline through mentoring, support for new teachers, paying student teachers, and helping Maine students afford college if they commit to teaching here,” he added. 

In addition to increasing pay, Pingree focused on the need to tackle the broader cost of living challenges that many educators face.

Making childcare and energy costs more affordable, lowering housing prices and protecting collective bargaining rights are all part of the solution, she said. 

“If we want to recruit and retain great teachers, Maine needs to be a place where educators and school staff can actually afford to live and build a life,” Pingree added.

Charles said his campaign promises to cut income and property taxes, reduce state spending, lower energy bills, and grow Maine’s economy will “make it easier to live on a teacher’s salary and even attract more educators to our state.”

“As the son of a teacher who taught for 40 years and the grandson of a principal, I would love to pay all of them a million dollars a year, but obviously, we have limited resources,” he said. “I would aim to dramatically shift state resources away from Augusta bureaucracy to teaching.”

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