Education Reform — the House Version

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.

Boston International: Model for Innovation Schools

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 …

Response to the latest version of Massachusetts’ Education Reform Bill

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 …

need to respect collective bargaining rights of teachers

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, …