Op-ed: Mass. has to return to its high standards for education
/0 Comments/in Featured /by Editorial StaffIts 25th anniversary is an appropriate time to reflect on the success of Massachusetts’ 1993 Education Reform Act. Yet instead of rededicating ourselves to all the work still to be done, the Commonwealth seems to be turning away from the core principles of an approach that brought unprecedented success.
In the early 1990s, Massachusetts’ broken educational standards and financing system were in urgent need of reform. Wide funding disparities existed between wealthy suburban districts and poor urban and rural ones. Due to the misguided practice of social promotion, students frequently graduated from high school without the academic preparation to succeed in college or the workplace. Parents who desperately sought alternatives for children trapped in failing public schools had few options.
The 1993 act included comprehensive measures to address these challenges. We are proud to have played central roles in the creation of this law in our former positions as governor and Senate chair of the Legislature’s Joint Education Committee. Read the rest of this op-ed in The Boston Globe.
Check out our related analysis and commentary:

Experts Find K-12 Online Education Can Be Appropriate for Most Special Needs Students

Study: Officials Must Address Basic Questions to Improve Public School Computer Science Education

Pioneer Institute Relaunches “One-Stop Shop” for Education Performance Data

Study Finds Historic Drop in National Reading and Math Scores Since Adoption of Common Core Curriculum Standards

New Report Offers Case Study for Transition to Online Learning

New Brief Calls on the USED for School Closure Guidelines During COVID-19

Public Statement on MA DESE Blocking Federal Funding to Religiously Affiliated Special Needs Students

VIDEO: Making a Difference Through METCO

Pioneer Institute Files Updated Amicus Brief in Potentially Landmark School Choice Case Currently before U.S. Supreme Court

Press Release: Choice Media, Pioneer Institute, and Ricochet Announce New Education Podcast

Study Calls for Tying Additional State Education Aid to Reforms

Pioneer Alert: Supreme Court Will Rule on Highly Significant School Choice Case

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

Study Finds Student Growth Percentile Is Unreliable, Limits Access to Charter Public Schools

Pioneer Public Statement on Legislative Demise of New Bedford Charter School Deal

Pioneer Institute Public Statement on UMass Financial Oversight

Study Finds UMass Leadership – Not Campus Administrators – Bears Primary Responsibility for UMass Boston Budget Woes
