A longtime Democratic politician and government employee has been hired in a $121,000-a-year position at the Maine Department of Education (Maine DOE) as the state’s first “green schools director.”

Glenn Cummings, former president of the University of Southern Maine and speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, began his work in the newly created position on Monday.

According to a report from the Maine Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF), Cumming’s work will focus on facilitating coordination between climate education, facilities and transportation teams so that Maine schools “can pursue climate action that saves money and improves student outcomes.”

As “green schools director,” Cummings will be tasked with coordinating the Maine DOE’s initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the state’s public schools, a goal that GOPIF states will be achieved by being more energy efficient and “adopting cleaner technologies.”

A recent foray by Maine schools into adopting “cleaner technologies” proved less than successful, when several Maine school districts that received electric school buses under a federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program found the buses were prone to leaks, heating problems, and other malfunctions.

The green schools director position was initially proposed last year in a bill, L.D. 612, from Rep. Marc Malon (D-Biddeford). That bill, passed by the Maine House and Senate along party lines with support from Democrats, died on the appropriations table in late July 2023.

Funding for the position was included, however, in the Maine Department of Education budget approved by the Legislature at the end of the session.

Cummings began his academic career as a high school history teacher in Gorham, later serving as a faculty member at Southern Maine Community College and the University of Southern Maine.

From 2000 to 2008, Cummings served as a Democratic member of the Maine House of Representatives for the state’s 115th district, spending one term as House Speaker.

Prior to becoming the University of Southern Maine’s 13th president in 2015, Cummings served as Interim President of the University of Maine at Augusta. He also served Deputy Assistant Secretary within the U.S. Department of Education under President Barack Obama.

Cummings holds a Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Brown University and a Bachelor of Arts from Ohio Wesleyan University.