In 2011, when Mr. LePage took office, Maine had the 14th lowest rate of poverty in the nation, according to the census; last year, it fell to 21st.
As for education, Mr. LePage famously derided the state’s public schools shortly after taking office, saying, “If you want a good education, go to private schools.”
Since then, state funding for public schools has climbed, though much of that increase was a result of legislative overrides of Mr. LePage’s vetoes.
While those amounts increased, they did not keep up with the cost of education under Maine’s school funding formula, said James Myall, a policy analyst at the Maine Center for Economic Policy, a liberal research group. With the state paying a smaller share, towns have had to increase property taxes to fill the gap.
Click here to read the full story, published August 13 in the New York Times.
