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Revenge of the status quotists

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In his letter to the editor (“Ed board shuffle: a lesson in irony,” July 2, 2007), Dan French trots out a number of myths long perpetuated by supporters of the status quo in education. He contends that Governor Weld packed the Board of Education, overlooking the fact that changes on the board had strong support from a Democratic Legislature alarmed at what was then the slow pace of education reform. Weld appointed John Silber as the chairman of the Board, who, notwithstanding the views some may have of him, was the largest vote-getter among recent Democratic gubernatorial candidates until Governor Patrick’s election last year. He contends that five of the nine members had ties to Pioneer or other free-market think […]

Progress after Education Reform

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So the “revisionistas” (a.k.a. status quotists, special interests, etc.) are trotting out the view that Massachusetts’ school system was always the best in the country, even before the Ed Reform Act of 1993 (and before standardized testing, accountability and innovation through charters). As my 6th grade American Civics teacher used to say in his baritone drawl: That’s mullarky! See my previous post on the NAEP scores. How about Massachusetts’ performance on the SATs? As former Senate President Tom Birmingham, one of the architects of Ed Reform, noted at a November 06 Pioneer event entitled “Has Education Reform Stalled?” If you had told Weld or Roosevelt or me on that hot day in June 1993 that more than 90 percent of […]

Wrong again, Glenn – PI is for one accountability system (4 of 4)

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Finally, in his letter to the Globe editor Glenn talks of districts balancing the state’s largest educational regulatory burden — a 14-tiered system of accountability, assessments, and accreditations — against severely restricted local budgets. He goes on with the preposterous: Pioneer cheerlead[s] for the bureaucracy that burdens the nation’s most overregulated public schools. As everyone knows, generally (though not always) Pioneer agrees with the view that micromanagement of localities should not be the state’s first course of action. There are too many mandates on the use of state funding (on HMOs, on businesses, etc.). Pioneer supports a single accountability system: the independent, district-wide and school-based accountability assessments performed by the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability (EQA). This morning we […]

Micromanaging the Courts

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The conference budget came out last Friday. There’s plenty of grist for the mill there, but I direct your attention to the following section: SECTION 26. Section 58 of chapter 218 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 76, the words “an assistant clerk” and inserting in place thereof the following words :- a first assistant clerk and 3 assistant clerks. Its worth your while to take a look at the law in question. It lays out in precise and excruciating detail the staffing levels and salaries of a large portion of court personnel. Section 26, above, mandates that the particular district court in question hire 3 additional clerks. Pioneer has long […]

What Glenn gets wrong – Ed Reform and progress (3 of 4)

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I remember a rally in front of the State House when my daughter Teruha was only one or two. I lived on Beacon Hill back then, in a five-floor walkup. My legs were stronger, as were Ritsuko’s. Teruha was a champ and at that age would sleep on tables whenever we went out to eat, which was too often because I love to eat out, especially in the summer. It was hot out — I think it was June. My calm lass in my arms, I was headed to the Commons to play with a ball. But the open area was crowded with protesters, and the tract of Charles Street between the Public Garden and the Commons was lined with […]