department of education

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) legal office has played a key role in denying students at religious schools services funded by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for more than a decade.

Massachusetts is known to have some of the top public schools in the country. Its traditional, vocational, and charter schools are ranked best in the nation across a variety of disciplines. Gaining access to these schools, however, comes at a steep price....

Massachusetts is known for the strength of its K-12 education.  US News & World Report recently ranked the commonwealth’s public-school districts.  Having grown up in Groton, I wanted to see the correlation between educational expenditures and school district performance in the town....

Dr. Sandra Stotsky, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas, former Senior Associate Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Education, describes some of the problems with the quality of the Common Core national education standards.

http://www.lowellsun.com/editorials/ci_20727036/u-s-history-lessons With the state pouring $3.2 billion a year into the Massachusetts public  school system, it’s fair to say that present-day students have basic resources  to be smarter than any previous generation. But what do Massachusetts students really learn in the classroom?...

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/local/ci_20581617/legislator-tech-schools-should-change-their-admissions-policies#ixzz2NdY6GEln If a wait list is a sign of success, vocational-technical high schools across the state are thriving. But with more students being denied entry to the schools each year, one lawmaker is questioning whether they are serving the population of students...

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/04/obamas-2013-education-budget-and-blueprint-a-costly-expansion-of-fed “Budgets are about choices.” Such was President Barack Obama’s message during a recent speech to the National Governors Association. President Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget request and supplemental education spending proposals make the Administration’s own choice perfectly clear: Continue to...

The Obama administration can’t seem to resist wading into state discussions about standards and tests, the guideposts that direct what is taught in local schools. At issue is the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which seeks to set national criteria for instruction...

http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2017712347_will12.html Two policies of the Obama administration illustrate an axiom: As government expands, its lawfulness contracts. Consider the administration’s desire to continue funding UNESCO and to develop a national curriculum for primary and secondary education. In 1994, Congress stipulated that no U.S....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-disregard-for-those-pesky-things-called-laws/2012/03/08/gIQAHIA61R_story.html Two policies of the Obama administration illustrate an axiom: As government expands, its lawfulness contracts. Consider the administration’s desire to continue funding UNESCO and to develop a national curriculum for primary and secondary education. In 1994, Congress stipulated that no U.S....