She will hold three meetings at the Legion hall and get some education from the public about what they think they might want or need in the form of senior housing. It is an opportunity for the public to learn what is happening and to speak their piece.

We've made a lot progress. But there's a lot more everyone can do in terms of education, and that will only benefit the entire industry.

We know that the [DEP] staff has been very busy on other things and busy at other meetings because we've been at all the same meetings. This is a very important decision for us, it's important for the state and we want DEP to have ample time to make a thoughtful decision.

I think that what happened with the three-member board is no one came to the meetings. More members might encourage more public participation.

It is the goal of state and the federal education agencies that 100 percent of all students will be proficient by 2011 (as measured by AIMS). Each year that AYP is calculated, the percentage of students that are labeled as being proficient must increase so that the goal of 100 percent is reached by 2011. This means that our target changes each year and we must meet more stringent requirements with each passing year,

This program will do more to promote the state's education and economy than any other investment. Still, there is more to do. We need to make sure teachers are well-educated and we need to make sure classroom sizes stay small.