VISION FOR IMPROVING EDUCATION IN MASSACHUSETTS

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VISION FOR IMPROVING EDUCATION IN MASSACHUSETTS

• Vision, not blueprint
• Further definition with on-going input from
  parents, teachers, students, principals,
  administrators and other experts
• My starting point parents teachers

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THE EDUCATION INCENTIVE

• A high school degree, even with a passing MCAS
  score, is insufficient for employment in the new
  economy
• Since the early 1980s, more than 400,000 new jobs
  requiring college have been created in
  Massachusetts, while 150,000 jobs for high
  school grads disappeared
• In the 1970s, the typical college grad earned
  twice the income of a high school dropout, but
  today its three times
• Higher ed is increasingly essential for all
  citizens, not just an option for the few.
• Or, alternative vocational track
• Effective education means K through Job

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HELPING FAILING SCHOOLS

• MCAS has helped identify the schools which are
  failing our kids
• Remarkably, there is no concrete and timely plan
  to help these schools
• Tens of thousands of Massachusetts kids leave
  school unprepared for employment and
  self-sufficiency
• Among the reasons schools fail our kids are the
  following
• Parents Not enough parental involvement
• Teachers Varying levels of teacher skills
• Management Principals given responsibility to
  manage without adequate authority to do so

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BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR SUCCESSRemediate
Failing Schools

• Immediately address underperforming
  schools/districts
• Kindergarten expanded to full day with parents
  completing new Parental Readiness for Education
  Program (PREP). Includes English immersion for
  all non-English speaking children
• Immediate 3rd party audit of school management,
  curriculum and faculty
• Principals with emergency powers to replace up to
  10 of staff
• Intensive remedial attention for under-performing
  teachers
• Accelerated charter school authorization

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BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR SUCCESSRenovate K-12
System

• Make English immersion the educational norm for
  all non-native speakers
• Provide full-day kindergarten intensive immersion
  program in all districts
• Unz approach without punitive features
• Return to neighborhood elementary schools
• Facilitates parental involvement
• End busing unless necessary to achieve racial
  balance
• Preserve METCO or METCO-like program
• Invest in teachers and principals
• Merit pay for our best teachers and principals
• Reform tenure by making it easier to remove
  unqualified teachers
• Expand Massachusetts Institute for New Teachers
  (MINT) and create parallel program to attract
  potential new principals
• End hiring pools that recycle poor teachers
  between schools

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BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR SUCCESSInnovate K-12
Practices

• Encourage new ideas and practices
• Develop extensive parental involvement programs
• Move to highly structured environments for
  students who repeatedly disrupt productive
  classrooms
• Review vocational-technical education and tie
  success to quality job placement
• Accelerate preparation for federally mandated
  grade 3-8 testing and ensure new tests are MCAS
  consistent
• Provide frequent and timely testing feedback for
  students and teachers
• Establish a Commonwealth-wide student and teacher
  resource database
• Identify and disseminate teaching best practices

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PREPARING FOR TODAYS ECONOMYRemediate Higher Ed

• Remove patronage and politics from the higher
  education system
• End patronage-based tuition waivers and adhere to
  need-based financial assistance
• Consolidate higher ed subsidy into a single line
  item ending political micro-management
• Restructure financial relationship between
  Commonwealth and higher ed
• 100 retention of fees and tuition
• Prioritize capital and spending based on student
  enrollment
• Standardize or centralize administration and
  common functions
• Seamless admission and financial aid processes
  but retain differentiated admissions standards
• Uniform Internet-based services and information

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PREPARING FOR TODAYS ECONOMYRenovate Higher Ed

• Create an integrated public higher education
  system out of the current hodge-podge
• Create clear and distinct missions for the
  community college, state college and University
  of Massachusetts systems
• Increase collaboration and sharing across
  campuses
• Leverage services, capital planning and sourcing
  across the community college, state college and
  university systems
• Link curriculums to articulated regional economic
  needs
• Develop new private/public partnerships with key
  local employers
• Revitalize work-to-learn internship programs
• Empower community college system to own job
  training
• Support skill and career development in the
  workplace
• Target adults with work experience but
  insufficient skills

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PREPARING FOR TODAYS ECONOMYInnovate

• Create cabinet-level position of Secretary of
  Education to coordinate all state education
  spending under one direct report to the Governor
• Clear accountability to the Governor and MA
  voters
• Streamline redundant boards and authorities

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