Tom Birmingham, Author at Pioneer Institute

About Tom Birmingham

Tom Birmingham is the Distinguished Senior Fellow in Education at Pioneer Institute. He was previously the Executive Director of Citizen Schools Massachusetts and Senior Counsel with Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP. In 1991, Mr. Birmingham was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate, where he served as co-chair of the Joint Committee on Education. He was one of the architects of the landmark 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act.

Mr. Birmingham later served as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and Senate President. Mr. Birmingham graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School and is a Rhodes Scholar.

Entries by Tom Birmingham

More students, employers need to benefit from voc-tech schools’ winning formula

June 19, 2019 /0 Comments/in Featured, Oped: Education, Oped: Voc Tech, Press Releases: Voc Tech /by Tom Birmingham

This op-ed appeared in Commonwealth Magazine and New Bedford Standard Times. A recent visit to Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School demonstrated why career and technical high schools are rightly considered a Massachusetts success story. But it also serves as a reminder that we must not let them become victims of their success. Greater New Bedford Regional Voc-Tech gets most of its 2,139 students from New Bedford, though it also serves Dartmouth and Fairhaven. It can’t keep up with demand, with about 700 students on the wait list. Twice that many students and their parents attend when the school holds an open house. Greater New Bedford Regional Voc-Tech is the most sought-after secondary school in New Bedford, ahead […]