In addition, the Wiscasset community has its own set of issues. It has lost the Maine Yankee tax-base and failed to fully plan for this inevitable ‘rainy day’. It has a school age population that is shrinking. It has “consolidated” with small, inland communities with which it has very little in common.

But what, in the face of these challenging issues, is actually happening in Wiscasset schools? What is happening is an unraveling which I am beginning to see on a daily basis. I see talented, professional, and extremely dedicated teachers who are demoralized and undervalued and consequently unable to give their inner strength and resources to their students. I see an extremely capable and caring Principal at the high school, where I teach, who is desperately trying to boost up and maintain what has been a small and vibrant school community. I see a School Board and Superintendent who seem to have ‘lost their way’, to put it kindly. And finally, I see students with needs that are not subsiding but increasing on many, many fronts.

Now is the time for leadership. Leadership which understands the dynamics of teaching and learning, which understands the power of collaborative problem solving, and which truly understands the long-term value of a quality education. It is time that Wiscasset citizens pay attention. It is time that the School Board be called to task. It is time that Wiscasset teachers have a fair contract.

I urge the citizens of Wiscasset (which I am not) to attend their school board meetings and to stand up and speak out before one of Wiscasset’s greatest assets, its schools, are recklessly squandered.

Mary Ellen Bell
Social Studies teacher, Wiscasset High School
Bath