Will Brownsberger — State Senator, Democrat, 2d Suffolk and Middlesex District

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.

I am very concerned about the definition of an underperforming school district that could be written into the new education bill. The new bill, specifically the section that will replace Chapter 71, Section 89 (i) (3), includes language that will trigger lifting the charter school cap for districts based on low Composite Performance Index (CPI) [...]

Knowing you are addressing legislation around Education Reform, Im compelled to write and share with you my thoughts and observations. Since my children began public schooling back in 1971 Ive been heavily involved in public education volunteering in the classroom, serving on policy committees and the local school committee. Never have I supported charter schools [...]

Dear Will, Thank you for your succinct outline and notes about the current House bill.  I’m posting the text below on my own blog and sending copies to Ken, Jay and Sean.  I appreciate the opportunity to post it on your blog as well. Thanks again, Mary I’m satisfied that much of this bill might [...]

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.

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.

YES, I vote for more control . Charter Schools are the only alternative right now so I am in favor of them. But we really need to change the System to Merit pay for teachers. Any Better yet go to  a voucher system.

I am against giving School Superintendents more power than they already have.  In a perfect world, principals and teachers should jointly figure out how to fix underperforming schools.  Superintendents are too distant from the task. I think Charter Schools need to exist.  They offer smaller classes, good teachers, maybe even better curriculums.  Often they also [...]

The latest version of the education reform bill to come out of the joint committee on education has many laudable elements that could improve education in entire schools and even school districts.  The Innovation Schools look like they’re heading in the right direction.  Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the bill are potentially workable although [...]

Dear Mr. Brownsberger, I am writing to express my displeasure at the current education bill. I agree that there needs to be urgent action in poor performing schools. However, it is not only teachers that are to blame for such performance. We need comprehensive education reform that will look at the role of administrators, parents, [...]

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.

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

Teachers are eager for new technology, but we don’t have enough of it in the schools. The students who have the equipment and really know how to use it for something other than gaming, are not the ones who need it. The rest have to be explicitly taught how to use technology as a learning tool. For my students, I have to teach them how to learn in general first.

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.