Tuesday August 10, 2010 | 01:43 PM

Maine's state Board of Education started a two-day retreat in Freeport on Monday.

There were no big decisions on the agenda, but board members were to get briefings on a variety of topics that have made news recently.

First, the Common Core academic standards, which the Department of Education last Monday moved to adopt under the agency's provisional rulemaking authority. The department's move will trigger a public hearing on Aug. 30 a full review of the standards by the state Legislature when it reconvenes next year.

More than 30 states so far have adopted the Common Core standards, and in many of those states, boards of education have made the final decisions. That's not the case in Maine, however, where the power of standards adoption lies with the Department of Education and the Legislature.

State board members this week were also to hear an update on the New England Secondary School Consortium and a legislative overview from Education Committee chairman Sen. Justin Alfond, D-Portland.

The two-day state Board of Education meeting is a precursor to another big event in Maine education, slated for Wednesday. That's when the Legislature's Education Committee will host hearings on a slew of education-related appointments from Gov. John Baldacci. Those include the nomination of Acting Education Commissioner Angela Faherty to full education commissioner and former Maine Public Utilities Commission chairman Kurt Adams as a University of Maine System trustee.

Those nominations next go to the full Senate in a special session on Aug. 25.

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