Oped: Education

Urban school reform was working. Did antiracism break it? We have sought to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in public education for decades. For us, that means a diverse staff, a multicultural curriculum, inclusive school communities where children feel known and heard, and most importantly, academic achievement for all students. In the 2010s, new schools dedicated to educational equity were posting striking results. When the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University examined student outcomes from 2015 to 2019 in 29 states as well as Washington, D.C., and New York City, it identified some 200 charter school networks serving urban areas that were closing — or even reversing — longstanding achievement gaps in reading, math, or both.

At a time when the country’s basic commitment to the rule of law is being questioned, Newton educators are teaching their students that breaking the law and thumbing one’s nose at a judge’s order are OK — if it is in your self-interest.

Expanding the number of seats available in vocational-technical high schools is a good investment for Massachusetts. But it’s critical they are expanded in a way that promotes equity without endangering the academic and occupational excellence that continues to drive burgeoning demand for these schools.

Worcester, Brockton, Fall River, New Bedford, and other Gateway Cities in Massachusetts have large waiting lists for charter schools plus room to expand under state caps. What's needed are ways to curb obstructionist behavior that is blocking that expansion.

MTA campaign against graduation test takes their stand to ‘farcical extremes’ Originally appeared in CommonWealth magazine on April 25, 2023 The Massachusetts Teachers Asasociation is calling on its members to be “conscientious objectors” by refusing to administer MCAS and not let their...

The Founding Fathers believed the main role of public education was not workforce development, but to create citizens prepared for informed participation in American democracy. Without this, they feared the nation might dissolve. Never have the founders looked more prescient.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) recently launched its second review of the Boston Public Schools (BPS) in three years. The move has some up in arms because state law requires that officials conduct a review no more than a year before approving state receivership. For BPS, receivership is long overdue. After more than 15 years of consistent and rapid decline, the district has shown no ability—and limited will—to stem the tide

Rather than seeking to raise a generation of political activists and community organizers, civics programs should instill an informed love of our country based on the nation’s founding, how our system of government works, and what Americans have achieved – together with our many failings – since the nation was created.

As the U.S. Supreme Court takes up Carson v. Makin, the facts are clear. Maine has chosen to subsidize private education. As such, it cannot disqualify all religious schools from receiving public dollars under its school choice program.

Given the failures of both appointed and elected school boards, perhaps the time has come to have the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education appoint the members of the Boston School Committee. Patience might be warranted if the Boston Public Schools were improving. But we have waited for decades, and they are only getting worse. Holding adults in the system accountable was a cornerstone of the Education Reform Act. If not now, when?