Will Brownsberger -- State Representative, Democrat, 24th Middlesex District

These funds are flowing directly from the federal government through state executive branch agencies to schools. They are apparently not subject to legislative action at either the state or local level.

Massachusetts is moving forward to allow the creation of virtual schools. The progress is good news, although we may still be moving too cautiously.

Groups from diverse perspectives — the Boston Foundation, Stand for Children, the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation — are pushing for change in municipal health insurance. I think that the legislature is really beginning to focus on making something happen and I am starting to be hopeful that we’ll have a bill this spring.

Early Thursday evening the House completed final approval of the Education Reform bill. It is “on the Governor’s Desk” and a signing is scheduled for Monday morning at 11AM at the Children’s Museum, 300 Congress St., Boston.

The House moved forward a version of the education reform bill last night. There is plenty of coverage of the issue in the newspapers, but here is a perspective from the floor.

House leadership has released the draft of the education bill that will appear on the floor next week. The bill is focused on reforms in schools with low test scores. The voices that represent the affected communities speak in unison in calling for these reforms and — subject to hearing new concerns over the next few days — I expect to hear their call and support the bill.

Further below see a proposal made by the Arlington Education Association for an early retirement incentive ERI for teachers. I think this concept deserves some careful study.

The Senate did not complete debate on the bill until late on Tuesday and amended it extensively. House action is expected in early January, so we have some time to study and consider the controversial aspects of the bill.

The Joint Committee on Education released its draft education reform bill on Tuesday afternoon. I will say now that I do expect to vote for the bill, but elements of it are still in flux, so input is still meaningful.

I’ve recently heard from a number of people with concerns about the health education bill, House 3434. I do support the bill, and I am, in fact, a cosponsor. Actually, the bill adds only a very limited reporting mandate for school districts; it does not mandate any curriculum.

Mary Cummings, a teacher in Arlington, has started an education policy blog from the perspective of the trenches. It’s a welcome contribution.

This post is a summary of the answers to this question that came out during a forum in Belmont in March with Commisioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, Mitchell Chester.

The final Senate budget is based on a lower revenue estimate than the House budget and includes lower numbers for local aid and many other critical programs.

The Governor’s announcement today of an allocation of stimulus funds for education was good news for Belmont and Arlington (not for Cambridge).

Education funding is a top personal priority for me. But there are deep questions about how we should deliver education and what the goals of education should be.

Governor Patrick just delivered a pre-release to legislators of his 2010 local aid numbers. The Governor’s budget for 2010 keeps Chapter 70 level.

Should universal post-secondary education be our goal? There is good evidence that the answer is no.

It is not clear that a college education per se supports higher productivity. Rather college completion is an indicator of industry and ability (as well as childhood financial advantage).

The direct evidence about what employers are actually looking for in new hires in “good” jobs is mixed and suggests that personal virtues are more important than particular skills.

There is little to suggest that high school mathematics content is directly relevant to most jobs.