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:

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

Pioneer Institute Files Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court to Hear School Choice Case

New Study Urges State to Slow Down, Rethink Proposal to Protect Students from College Closings

Some Public, Private MA Universities Adapting to Rise of Tech in Finance Industry, but Students Still Insufficiently Prepared

State DPH Continues to Deny Private School Students Millions in School Nurse Services

Public Statement: A Responsible Reply to the Fall River Superintendent’s Comments

New Study Finds Multiple Problems with Push for Social-Emotional Learning in K-12 Education

Majority of Dues Paid by Mass. Public Higher Education Faculty Goes to State, National Union Affiliates

Study: Financial Impact of Charter Schools Depends on Percentage of Funding Districts Receive from State

Public Statement on Alma del Mar Charter School Expansion

Study: After-School Programs Can Help Improve Flat or Declining Math Achievement

Study Finds Vast Majority of Teacher Union Dues Fund State and National Affiliates
