Nonprofit News by Soft Trac

This article by The Associated Press appeared in the Kennebec Journal June 29, 2011.

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage says he’ll sign a bill to allow charter schools, putting Maine among the 40 other states that allow them.

The state Senate on Tuesday evening sent the bill to the governor’s desk after voting to give it final approval.

Charter schools were an issue during last fall’s election. Then running as the Republican candidate for governor, LePage made repeated promises to push for charter schools if elected.

The bill he’s signing, LD 1553, would allow no more than 10 public charter schools in the first decade. It would also limit the number of students who can attend them in the first three years to protect smaller non-charter public schools.

Charter schools are voluntary public schools that cannot teach religious practices and cannot discriminate against students or teachers.

Members of Community Action Agencies in Massachusetts and Connecticut attended this years annual conference on Cape Cod to learn about “Helping People in Turbulent Times”.

The 12th annual conference was presented by MASSCAP and CAFCA.

Soft Trac was pleased to be able to help the Community Action agencies in MA and CT by being a sponsor and attending this conference. Soft Trac’s staff shared information with attendees on how they can increase productivity across their communities by using solutions such as Sage Fund Accounting, Sage Fundraising, ETO by Social Solutions, and EZContentManager by ACOM.