PITTSFIELD, Maine (AP) — Maine Gov. Paul LePage has criticized traditional education during the unveiling of a new vocational school, describing classroom teachers as “a dime a dozen.”

The Morning Sentinel reports (http://bit.ly/2wWntaT ) the Republican governor made the comments Thursday at a Cianbro company workforce development center, called the Cianbro Institute.

The new center in Pittsfield offers classes such as shop and home economics.

LePage said mentoring offered at the center will be “more than just teaching out of a book.”

Lois Kilby-Chesley, the president of Maine’s largest teachers union, says the union supports career and technical education in the schools. But she says she does not agree with the governor’s “dime a dozen” statement, especially since Maine is struggling to fill teaching positions.