đź“°BIDDEFORD | OPINION | We Spend More. Our Kids Read Worse. That Is Not Compassion.
By Jason Litalien, Independent candidate, Maine State Senate District 32 (Biddeford, Dayton, Hollis, Lyman, and Arundel)
September 22, 2026, I grew up in Biddeford. I graduated from Biddeford High School, served 13 years in the Air Force, earned a law degree at the University of Maine School of Law, and built a small practice here. My wife, Kristen, and I live just miles from where I grew up. I am running as an Independent for Senate District 32 because this district is paying more for schools and getting worse results.
My opponent, Henry Ingwersen, is a retired public-school teacher. He arrived in Augusta in 2018 and sat on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee. That is the record that matters.
When he entered office, Maine ranked 19th in the nation for education on the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT index. In 2019, 36 percent of Maine fourth graders were proficient in reading on the Nation’s Report Card. Today Maine ranks 41st. About 74 percent of fourth graders are not proficient in reading. About 75 percent of eighth graders are not proficient in math. From 2019 to 2024, the share of Maine fourth graders below proficient in reading jumped 16 percent — the sharpest drop of any state in the country. Maine’s average fourth grade reading score is the lowest since 1992. Fourth graders who once ranked near the top of the nation now sit 44th.
This did not happen because Maine refused to spend. U.S. Census figures for fiscal year 2024 put Maine at about $19,962 per pupil, 17th in the country and well above the $17,619 national average. Spending per student is up more than a third since 2019. The University of Maine’s Education Policy Research Institute found that by 2024 districts were spending 26 percent above the state’s own Essential Programs and Services model — about $604 million extra, paid largely through local property taxes. Enrollment has fallen about 19 percent since 2001. Costs did not fall with it.
Why does it cost so much? MEPRI and the Maine Monitor have documented the drivers: more than 260 districts and hundreds of schools for roughly 170,000 students; special-education identification at about 20 percent versus a 15 percent national average; special-education spending that has grown far faster than inflation; and central offices that do not shrink when classrooms empty. Statewide, median system-administration cost is about $810 per student. Biddeford, Saco, and Dayton already share a central office. That arrangement runs about $455 per student. We do not need another tax to copy what our own cities already proved.
And we are not even teaching reading the way the research says children learn. This month Educate Maine and the Bangor Daily News reported that 82 percent of surveyed districts use at least one reading program not aligned with the science of reading — phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Forty-six different programs. Maine is a local-control outlier that will not set a statewide standard, then wonders why fourth-grade reading collapsed. The Maine Children’s Alliance has already said the state needs to standardize reading curricula and train teachers in methods that work.
Here is the solution I will take to Augusta. First, require every K–3 classroom to use a state-vetted, science-of-reading curriculum. Districts can pick from a short, approved list. The state pays the training, so it does not land on the Biddeford tax bill. Second, push shared administration and purchasing the way Biddeford, Saco, and Dayton already do, instead of 260 separate central offices. Third, stop treating “more than EPS” as a virtue. If a district spends 26 percent over the model and three in four fourth graders still cannot read proficiently, that is not an underfunded school. That is a failed strategy. Fourth, measure schools by reading, writing, math, and career skills — not by how much Augusta appropriated.
That is how you lower the cost and raise the scores without another last-minute tax. Henry had the education committee and our ranking went from 19th to 41st. If you want more of that, stay with Henry. If you want results, vote for me. Common sense. Lower taxes. Stronger schools.
About the Author:
Jason Litalien is an Independent candidate for Maine Senate District 32. Jason is a Veteran of the UnitedStates Military, and both lives and owns a business in Biddeford, Maine.
According to Litalien's campaign, he is "focused on lowering costs improving education, and supporting responsible growth in Biddeford, Dayton, Hollis, Lyman, and Arundel."
To learn more about Jason Litalien, please visit https://jason4maine.com/.
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