The well-intended legislation was aimed at addressing persistent racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps, but what Beacon Hill perhaps didn’t foresee was the greater financial pressure it would place on municipal budgets as sluggish state aid growth that has not kept pace with inflation, strict limits on local tax increases, and rising costs continue to trap many local governments between a rock and a hard place.
K-12 education
Posted inEducation
Proposed graduation requirements revive debate over standardized testing
The K-12 Statewide Graduation Council recommends in a new proposal that students complete state-designed and administered end-of-course assessments, sparking debate over whether Massachusetts is reintroducing the standardized testing voters rejected by ballot question in 2024.
Posted inOpinion
The ‘Right to Read’ bill must include teacher preparation
The state Legislature appears poised to pass the “Right to Read Act” — legislation that would require school districts to adopt evidence-based literacy curricula. With more than half of students […]
Posted inEducation
Senate and House aligning on evidence-based reading instruction
While the state continues to rank among national leaders, MCAS data show that only about 42 percent of third-graders are meeting state expectations in English language arts, with significantly lower rates among students of color, low-income students, English language learners and students with disabilities.
Posted inOpinion
Reading isn’t enough: Massachusetts must solve its math crisis, too
Research shows that early math skills are more predictive of lifetime earnings than reading or health factors. And as Massachusetts’s economy increasingly relies on evolving STEM jobs, we must prepare all students — not just a privileged few — for that future.
Posted inOpinion
Breaking down silos that separate students by race and class
AT A RECENT press briefing, Massachusetts education commissioner Jeff Riley observed that the crisis of COVID-19 school closures is also “an amazing opportunity to think differently about how we educate […]
