Gov. Paul LePage today teamed up with education officials to announce that the Maine Department of Education is giving out $11.3 million in federal grant money over the next five years to support "at-risk" students.
LePage - himself a former at-risk child - says the money will establish or maintain 32 community learning centers across the state, in districts where more than 40 percent of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch. "I can't be any happier than to see the focus that we're putting in to help at-risk kids," he said.
The learning centers will provide things like after-school and summer learning programs for the children, who are from low-income and, in many cases, immigrant families.
LePage, who has courted controversy recently for his directive to withhold General Assistance aid to undocumented immigrants, was asked if the children of undocumented immigrants should benefit from the learning program.
"They're not qualifying," he said. "They have to have legitimate paperwork."
However, given that school districts do not request immigration paperwork when admitting students, LePage says his directive would be difficult to enforce in this case.