Editorial Staff

Op-ed: Mass. has to return to its high standards for education

/0 Comments/in /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+
By Thomas F. Birmingham and William F. Weld   JULY 05, 2018

Its 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:

Charter Funding Study Calls For Money To More Closely Follow Students

State should fund “target aid,” increase funding that follows…

Press Release: National Charter School Hall Of Fame Member & Accomplished Researcher Among Charter Forum Speakers

Join us for “Best Practices from Urban Charter Schools,” a Pioneer Institute forum at Boston’s Omni Parker House hotel on Wednesday, May 4th from 8:00-9:50 a.m.

Pulitzer Prize Winners To Be Featured At Event On Teaching Jacksonian Democracy In Schools

Student Essay Contest Winners Announced Contact Jamie Gass,…

Public Statement: MA Senate Bill Ducks Moral Responsibility to Lead on Charter Schools

The Massachusetts Senate’s charter public school bill is disappointing…

Studies: Western Mass. Charter Schools Using Data to Improve Achievement

0 Comments
/
Case Studies Describe Best Practices Of Two Successful Western…

Teaching U.S. Economic History In Schools Is Topic Of Pioneer Forum

Monday, January 25 event “Big Business & Big Labor” to…

Study: Charter Schools Delivering on Promise of Curricular Innovation

Mystic Valley and Advanced Math and Science Academy charter schools…

Study: Mass. Charter Public Schools Boosting Achievement for English Language Learners

Schools using inclusion, data-driven instruction, and parent…

New Report on Advanced Civics for U.S. History Teachers, Preface by Churchill Biographer

Study Recommends That States Require Passage of U.S. History…

Driving Force Behind California Tenure Lawsuit to Deliver 2015 Lovett C. Peters Lecture in Public Policy

BOSTON - David F. Welch, Ph.D., the driving force behind Vergara…

Study: Poor Performance of Other States in PARCC Consortium Would Translate to Lower Standards for Mass.

0 Comments
/
Attacks on MCAS for not producing “college-ready” graduates…

Testing the Tests: Why MCAS Is Better Than PARCC

Study:  MCAS Less Expensive, More Rigorous and Provides Better…

Expanding Voc-Tech Education & Equality of Opportunity

Vocational-Technical Education, Equality of Educational Opportunity…

Study: Draft Science & Technology/Engineering Standards Should Be Withdrawn

0 Comments
/
Study Calls for Draft Science and Technology/Engineering Standards…

Survey: Proposed Voucher Large Enough to Give Majority of Low-Income Recipients Access to Religiously Affiliated Schools

BOSTON - An annual voucher of between $6,000 and $8,000 would…

Study Proposes School Voucher Plan for 10,000 Low-Income Mass. Students

New Study Proposes School Voucher Plan for 10,000 Low-Income…