AUGUSTA — Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, has named David Keaton of Caribou to a task force established by the Legislature to study the creation of a comprehensive career and technical education program. 

“If we are serious about equipping students with the skills and experience to pursue good-paying jobs after high school, lawmakers need to not only invest in career and technical education but also ensure that students can access these programs. This task force is critical to both setting students up for success and building the next generations of Maine workers and leaders,” said President Jackson. “As someone with more than three decades of experience and leadership in career and technical education, Dave will be an asset on this Task Force and ensure that the concerns and needs of rural Maine won’t be forgotten.”

Keaton is the Executive Director of the Maine Association of Career Technical Education (MACTE), an association of the 27 Career and Technical Centers and Regions in the State of Maine. He previously served as Houlton’s Region Two School of Applied Technology Director before retiring in 2021 after a 35-year career in education.

The Task Force will examine the feasibility of establishing a comprehensive 4-year high school career and technical education program to provide a technical high school setting for middle school students to attend after 8th grade. This will include looking at current state and national CTE programs. The goal of the commission is to improve access to and bolster career and technical education in Maine.

The Task Force’s inaugural meeting has not been scheduled yet. More information on the Task Force can be found here.

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