EDUCATION
CommonWealth Beacon explores the dynamics of the state’s K-12 and higher education systems, from their foundational pillars to current debates over how to ensure quality educational opportunity for all.
Compromise would reshape how Massachusetts teaches reading
The compromise resolves two of the most closely watched disputes between the House and Senate versions of the legislation: whether to explicitly restrict the controversial “three-cueing” reading approach and whether to provide immediate state funding to help districts transition to new curricula.
Raj Chetty’s prescription for reviving the American dream
As the American dream has slipped out of reach for many, few have done more than Chetty to try to understand the fading of the American dream and what could be done to change that dispiriting trendline.
Surtax fueling early ed expansion, but will it last?
The money expanding child care access this year comes from one-time surplus funds. Maintaining long-term funding will mean finding a permanent home for it in next year’s state budget.
Senate ready to give teachers second shot at retirement program
The Senate plans to take up a bill to enhance retirement benefit programs for teachers after resisting for years, following the House’s approval of a similar policy through a state budget amendment.
As school districts cut budgets, DEI work may be first to go
Brookline’s school district is one of at least four in Massachusetts that have cut DEI initiatives or positions despite community support, citing shrinking student enrollments and rollbacks in federal funding that threaten school budgets.
Political Notebook: Data centers get their tax breaks, taxpayer group side-eyes ballot measures
State officials had been working on crafting the tax exemption since the Legislature required it in the 2024 economic development measure that Gov. Maura Healey signed. But 18 months after that law was signed, the tax break comes at a fraught time for the artificial intelligence industry.
Head Start programs face funding squeeze
Head Start is navigating what advocates describe as a painful stretch of uncertainty. The federal budget for the early ed program is level-funded, lagging cost increases. While that has forced programs to reduce the number of families they serve, it is a retreat from earlier signals that the administration might seek to eliminate the program entirely.
Worcester pilot program provides early childhood educators with rent-free space to start their businesses
The Family Childcare Success Project, formed in partnership by the Guild of St. Agnes and the Seven Hills Foundation, launched a new family child care incubator — only the third of its kind in the nation — meant to provide more child care slots while making it easier for early educators to get their start.
‘Climate of fear’: Student enrollment declining amid Trump’s immigration crackdown
Overall, public schools across Massachusetts — which has become a target of President Trump’s crackdown on immigration — lost over 15,000 students from fall 2024 to fall 2025, according to state data released in January. That brings total enrollment in the state to its lowest level in over three decades.
Charter schools are subject to public records law, SJC rules
Excluding charter schools would frustrate the “core transparency mandate” of the law, wrote Justice Serge Georges, Jr. for a unanimous court on Tuesday, given that they are “public schools funded with public money and charged with performing a quintessential public function.”
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