MASSACHUSETTS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS will soon have to clear a higher bar on the 10th grade MCAS in order to graduate. The state board of education approved changes on Monday […]
Jeff Riley
Posted inEducation
Boston submits school improvement proposal to state
IN RESPONSE TO a scathing state review documenting “entrenched dysfunction” in the Boston Public Schools, the city submitted a proposal Wednesday night to state education officials that vows to make changes […]
Posted inEducation
For Boston schools, a reckoning with no simple answers
THINK OF DANIELLE MILLER and Mary Tamer as the rock and hard place between which state and city leaders sit as they try to figure out a plan for the […]
Posted inEducation
Riley looking for pact with Boston, not receivership
STATE EDUCATION COMMISSIONER Jeff Riley said the Boston Public Schools face a “myriad of problems,” from special education and English language learner services in disarray to data systems reporting inaccurate […]
Posted inEducation
State review slams Boston schools
A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED new state review of the Boston Public Schools paints a picture of a system in deep disarray, where some of the problems identified in a state report […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Riley forcing a reckoning on Boston schools
THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS are a mess, but it’s not clear what will or should be done about it. That’s the situation as the district approaches a moment of reckoning […]
Posted inEducation
Think tank calls for state takeover of Boston schools
A NEW REPORT from the Pioneer Institute says problems with the Boston Public Schools run so deep that a state takeover of the system represents the best option for improving […]
Posted inEducation
State education board OKs school mask mandate
THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION granted Education Commissioner Jeff Riley’s request for authority to impose a mask mandate for all students and staff in K-12 schools this fall, something Riley […]
Posted inEducation
State ed board approves vocational school admission changes
OVER THE OBJECTIONS of advocates who said the changes did not go far enough, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved new regulations Tuesday morning aimed at creating […]
Posted inEducation
Coalition says proposed voc school admission changes don’t go far enough
PROPOSED CHANGES TO vocational school admission policies, which the state has developed following years of pressure from municipal leaders and advocates, don’t go nearly far enough toward ensuring access to […]
Posted inEducation
State proposes sweeping change to vocational school admissions
FOUR YEARS AFTER elected officials and advocates began calling for changes to state regulations governing admission to vocational-technical high schools, Education Commissioner Jeff Riley is proposing a sweeping update to […]
Posted inOpinion
Time to rein in Riley’s authoritarianism
ON MARCH 5, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education took the extraordinary step of granting state Education Commissioner Jeff Riley unprecedented power over local communities. The majority of […]
Posted inEducation
Riley says feds won’t let Massachusetts skip MCAS
AS SCHOOL OFFICIALS have been pressuring the state to cancel this year’s MCAS tests, state education commissioner Jeff Riley said the decision is not his – it belongs to the federal […]
Posted inEducation, Health Care
A shopping bag held the key to safe school opening
A LITTLE BEFORE 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Liz Ruark started out from the small Worcester County town of Harvard on the 30-mile drive to Kendall Square in Cambridge. Nestled on […]
Posted inEducation
Riley pushes lower-stakes MCAS test
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THIS YEAR’S MCAS exams will be conducted this spring but will feature “significantly” reduced testing time for third through eighth graders and no schools will be […]
Posted inThe Download
Union pushing ‘no confidence’ votes in ed commish Riley
THE DEBATE OVER whether to reopen schools for in-person instruction is turning into an all-out war by the state’s largest teachers union against state education commissioner Jeff Riley. The Massachusetts […]
Posted inEducation
Union urging ‘no confidence’ votes in ed commish Riley
THE DEBATE OVER whether to reopen schools for in-person instruction is turning into an all-out war by the state’s largest teachers union against state education commissioner Jeff Riley. The Massachusetts […]
Posted inEducation
For Catholic schools, class is in session — and in person
WHILE THE SCHOOL YEAR has been upended for thousands of public school students across the state, Corrin Stokes’s school day this fall looked largely the same as it did last […]
Posted inEducation
Guidance calls for much smaller class sizes in schools
STATE OFFICIALS are signaling that student-teacher ratios across the state may be far lower when schools reopen in the fall to deal with the coronavirus. In a preliminary guidance, the […]
Posted inEducation
Peyser: Remote learning could continue in fall
MASSACHUSETTS’S TOP EDUCATION officials warned on Wednesday that schools should not expect to return to completely normal activities this September. School will look different when it starts, and there is […]
Posted inEducation
State to assert new oversight of Boston schools
STATE AND CITY leaders have agreed to an unusual plan for oversight of the long-struggling Boston public schools, one that keeps the district in local hands but will set firm […]
Posted inEducation
Voc-tech schools facing scrutiny over admissions policies
AFTER YEARS OF complaints from city officials and urban school superintendents that vocational-technical schools are turning away some of the students who might benefit most from their hands-on learning programs, […]
Posted inEducation
5 ideas for generating better school district improvement plans
GATEWAY CITY EDUCATORS returned to school following the winter break pinching themselves. Just before the holidays, Gov. Baker signed the Student Opportunity Act (SOA), a landmark bill that promises to […]
Posted inEducation
Why I opposed New Bedford charter school plan
THE PROPOSED charter school expansion plan crafted by New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, Alma del Mar charter school, and state education Commissioner Jeff Riley earlier this year was simply too […]