STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS and parents roamed the halls of the State House this week to ask state lawmakers to support increased funding for the largest school integration program in the country. Advocates want to bump up the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity’s (METCO) line item amount in the fiscal year 2024 […]
Elementary and Secondary Education
Posted inEducation
Illegal strikes are helping teachers win new contracts
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MASSACHUSETTS TEACHERS Association wants to legalize teachers’ strikes in the face of opposition to the idea from Gov. Maura Healey, but unions are simultaneously racking up contract wins with a series of strikes that violate state law. Educators in Woburn spent five school days on strike before they achieved a […]
Posted inOpinion
Summer learning is key to reversing academic losses
THE ROAD to pandemic recovery must run through summer, when programs draw on young people’s interests to help them learn. The steep decline in student test scores is concerning but just the tip of the iceberg in measuring pandemic losses. Researchers estimate that the loss of earnings for Massachusetts students alone will be $21 billion. […]
Posted inOpinion
3 steps for Mass. education course correction
GOV. MAURA HEALEY’S appointment of Education Secretary Patrick A. Tutwiler shouldn’t be a dramatic move. Having a veteran educator in this leadership position shouldn’t be unusual. Unfortunately, his experience as a teacher, principal, and superintendent hasn’t been typical of education policy leaders in Massachusetts. Tutwiler replaces James Peyser, whose experience in education was as a […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
Special treatment considered for revenue from millionaire tax
TOP BUDGET OFFICIALS from the Legislature say they intend to abide by the will of the voters and make sure all revenue from the new millionaire tax goes to “new initiatives” in transportation and education. Exactly what would qualify as a “new initiative” hasn’t been decided yet (is a new bus or subway car a […]
Posted inEducation
Top Democrats assessing alternatives to MCAS
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TOP DEMOCRATS are leaving the door open to reassessing the role of Massachusetts’ long-controversial standardized testing system as some education advocates reinvigorate calls to abolish the tests or remove the requirement that high school seniors pass it in order to receive a diploma. Lawmakers created the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System in […]
Posted inEducation
BPS parents concerned about safety at school
THE PANDEMIC has put the spotlight on the classroom, with national and statewide test figures showing that students have lost ground in academic subjects. As schools prepare for the new year, a new survey finds Boston Public School parents also have other concerns, including the emotional well-being and physical safety of their children and the […]
Posted inEducation
Riley ‘shocked’ at MTA push for right to strike
ALLOWING PUBLIC school teachers to strike would be “a bridge too far” and disregards the pandemic lessons about the importance of in-person learning, the state’s education commissioner said Tuesday as the largest teachers’ unions gears up to lobby legislators for that authority in the new session. Massachusetts Teachers Association President Max Page filled the Board of […]
Posted inEducation
Schools flush with cash, but need better plan on how to spend it
IN 2010, a young Mark Zuckerberg partnered with a rising political star, then-Mayor Cory Booker, to donate $100 million dollars to Newark Public Schools. The idea was that a massive infusion of wealth could fundamentally alter learning within the community. New money led to modest change but did little to address major challenges in schools. […]
Posted inThe Download
Poll finds Boston teachers open to lessons on race, sexism
Boston public school teachers believe issues of race and racism should be taught in public schools, particularly in the older grades, according to a survey conducted by Educators For Excellence, a national teacher-led organizing group. The survey of 110 Boston teachers, sponsored by the Barr Foundation, includes a number of revealing details about the position […]