Lawmakers revisit bills to ensure diverse histories are taught in Maine schools

Lawmakers are, again, trying to ensure that the already required teachings of Wabanaki and African American studies are effectively and accurately included in Maine school curricula. Some are also seeking to add Asian history into the statewide learning results.

Sponsors described the public hearings for three of the four bills in the Education Committee on Tuesday as “déjà vu,” as the earlier iterations nearly passed last session but died due to procedural disagreements. 

Now these proposals are being weighed as the federal government has set out to eradicate diversity efforts in public schools. The concept of diversity, equity and inclusion was on some committee members’ minds, with Rep. Barbara Bagshaw (R-Windham) requesting how much money Maine has used from the federal government and taxpayers for DEI.

But DEI is not what these bills are after, their sponsors explained. 

“This is not diversity, equity, inclusion,” Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland) said plainly. “This is a uniquely American story that’s not like any other story that must be told.”

Talbot Ross, who is again proposing an African American studies advisory council to ensure the learning requirements that became law in 2021 are being met, said the issue at hand is follow through. 

“We’ll continue to see these bills year after year after year if you don’t fund the financial and human resources to implement them,” Talbot Ross said. “It is a waste of this Legislature’s time, by the way, to continue to do our work this way.”

As the state faces a substantial budget deficit, the fiscal notes of these bills will be up for debate and sponsors acknowledged that there will be give and take. “But I just don’t want to see any of this, that’s already law, stalled any further,” Talbot Ross said.  

The bills’ sponsors are also intent on not repeating what they view as another past inadequacy: combining legislation, as proposals to ensure effective implementation of Wabanaki and African American studies were consolidated last session. 

“To merge the bills would be to undermine the logistical purpose of each bill,” said Rep. Ellie Sato (D-Gorham), sponsor of the bill to add Asian history into the statewide learning results. 

A proposed addition to history curricula 

“Learning about Asian American history in schools will help other Asian adoptees like me learn to accept their identity,” YuJi Smith, a tenth grader from Edgecomb, told the Education Committee. 

YuJi and her mother, Kimberly Smith, testified in support of LD 957, which would require Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history to be included in the next review of content standards and performance indicators. 

The intention behind LD 957, sponsored by Sato and bipartisan cosponsors, is underscored by the 2022 Social Tracking of Asian Americans in the U.S. Index, which found that education is the highest recommended solution to combat anti-Asian racism and found significant gaps in knowledge around AANHPI history, Sato said. 

Through tears, Kimberly Smith told lawmakers about how her daughter has experienced racism, increasingly so since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We have all seen the rise of anti-Asian bullying violence and racism since COVID and my concern is with the current national politics of othering,” Smith said. “This situation is only going to get worse.”

LD 957 is about inclusion not division, said Marpheen Chann, executive director of Khmer Maine, a community-based organization supporting Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander communities. 

“It’s about equipping our young people with knowledge, not ideology,” Chann said.  

Grace Valenzuela, executive director of communications and family community partnerships for Portland Public Schools who came to Maine in 1986 from the Philippines, said she’s seen firsthand the power of students seeing themselves reflected in curriculum. 

“It affirms their place in our shared story, and it fosters empathy in their peers,” Valenzuela said. 

However, should this bill pass, schools administrators and others are anticipating familiar challenges with ensuring effective implementation.

Eileen King, deputy executive director of the Maine School Management Association, raised concern about LD 957 being a mandate to require curriculum development possibly without additional resources. 

“We have seen how similar efforts in the past – such as the 2001 Wabanaki Studies law – have resulted in poor implementation due to wavering state commitments,” King said, “and our associations are concerned that this bill could be met with a similar fate, as local districts may struggle to implement it without strong funding to develop curriculum and share it with teachers and curricular leaders in every school district.”

‘Déjà vu’

Last year, a bill to establish a commission on Wabanaki and African American studies and a bill to pilot Wabanaki-centered curricula for Indigenous students attending public high schools both ultimately died without final action. 

The bills initially passed both chambers of the Maine Legislature and were funded by the budget committee, though at lesser amounts than initially proposed, however lawmakers did not take the final approval votes necessary to pass the measures by the time the Legislature finally adjourned. 

These measures, in slightly different forms, are back for consideration this session.

African American studies

LD 1202, sponsored by Talbot Ross, would create the African American Studies Advisory Council to serve as a resource for educators, schools and the Department of Education to ensure the implementation of the curricula in accordance with existing state law. 

It also directs the Maine Department of Education to develop professional development opportunities on the subject for educators and the State Board of Education to convene a group to assess whether to include a requirement for a relevant course to be a credentialed educator in the state. 

Testifying in support of the bill, Christian Cotz, acting Maine state archivist, said the teacher training is crucial. 

“At the Maine State Archives, we regularly hear from Maine teachers who are seeking both resources and guidance on how to teach African American history,” Cotz said.

As she did last session during consideration of the earlier iteration of this bill, Rep. Sheila Lyman (R-Livermore Falls) said she had concerns about focusing studies on any one particular group. 

“All their journeys matter,” Lyman said, listing off groups who contributed to Maine’s history, such as Irish immigrants. “Would you agree that we need to be cautionary on any judgments that we make?”

Talbot Ross described that line of questioning as conflating a number of things. Pointing to the joint session for Franco American Day on Wednesday, the senator said if Lyman’s philosophy were to be followed that would mean the Legislature couldn’t honor Americans of French or French-Canadian descent without also having days to honor all other ethnicities. 

“This is already law,” Talbot Ross said of the required course of study. “I’m not asking you to create a new law. I’m asking you to help me implement it.”

Lyman and Talbot Ross did align over the question of what adequate implementation looks like, which Talbot Ross said her bill seeks to answer. 

The bill as currently written requires$1 million to support this work and provide grants to schools to expand or implement curricula, though Talbot Ross said she’s not married to that figure. 

“I remain proud of my state for taking this step forward,” Talbot Ross said. “I hope that we can take the next step so it’s not just symbolic.” 

Wabanaki studies

LD 1474, sponsored by Rep. Laurie Osher (D-Orono), would permanently establish a Wabanaki studies specialist in the Maine Department of Education to ensure the standards are being met. Brianne Lolar has served in that role so far.  

Like Talbot Ross, Osher emphasized that her bill is about following through on commitments the state has already made. 

In order to ensure effective teaching, the bill would also direct the State Board of Education to adopt rules to require a Wabanaki studies component in the qualifications for certifying teachers.

School boards and superintendents are largely in support of the bill but object to adding the qualification for teaching certification due to existing challenges with filling the workforce, according to King with the Maine School Management Association. 

School districts have failed to consistently and appropriately include Wabanaki studies in their curricula, according to a 2022 report from the Abbe Museum, ACLU of Maine, Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission and Wabanaki Alliance. 

The report was not intended to be a “gotcha” moment for these schools but a baseline to figure out how to move forward, said Maulian Bryant, executive director of the Wabanaki Alliance. Since the report, Bryant commended Lolar’s work connecting Wabanaki advisors with educators and creating culturally accurate curriculum. 

“By supporting LD 1474 you can ensure that the progress the Wabanaki studies specialist has made in resource development, Wabanaki knowledge being accessible and valued, and the uplifting benefits of everyone in Maine understanding more about the Indigenous stewards past and present,” Bryant said. 

Wabanaki-centered curricula for Indigenous students

LD 339 would pilot a Wabanaki-centered curriculum for Wabanaki children attending public schools.

Native American students in Maine have the lowest high school graduation rate compared with other races, according to state data, and bill sponsor Rep. Michael Brennan (D-Portland) sees the bill as an initiative to address that disparity.  

Brennan said he felt a strong sense of “déjà vu” when he presented the plan on Tuesday, as it mirrors the version he put forth last year but with a different dollar amount attached. This year, Brennan is seeking $200,000 to support the development and piloting of this curricula — $100,000 for each year in the 2026-2027 biennium. 

In 2019, Gov. Janet Mills repealed proficiency-based diplomas and added the ability to count equivalent standards achievement in place of course credit, which would allow for this type of build-your-own curriculum.

Calais High School near the Canadian border has made the greatest strides so far toward such offerings. Lynn Mitchell, who works for Maine Indian Education, teaches the Passamaquoddy language at Calais High School. 

However, aside from Mitchell’s class, Superintendent of Maine Indian Education Reza Namin said Wabanaki students attending public school are currently navigating an education system that rarely reflects their heritage and history.

“This bill represents a critical step toward addressing this long standing imbalance,” Namin said. “A Wabanaki-centered curriculum is not merely cultural enrichment, it is an educational necessity.”