Issue Position: Education

Issue Position

President Obama's decision to grant a waiver to Massachusetts that gives school districts in the Commonwealth the flexibility from the No Child Left Behind Act requiring all students reach assessment proficiency by 2014 is a welcome to many area superintendents, teachers and parents. I see a need to teach our young men and women more than how to pass the MCAS. There is a need to get back to the "Basics". There is a need to put more emphasis on teaching everyday life skills to all students on all levels. Employers and college professors continue to report that they are dissatisfied with the basic skills of young people. Public Agenda, a national survey organization, reports that almost three-quarters of those interviewed were not happy with the writing skills, grammar and spelling, and organizational skills of recent high school graduates. http://www.edbenchmarks.org/ We need to keep our children excited and willing to learn. Their future is in our hands. As your State Representative, I will continue to support future funding of Chapter 70 and see a need to increase funding in the future. The Governor has just recently allocated 4.1 Billion for Chapter 70 representing the highest state funding for K-12 education in the Commonwealths history. I will also work on adding "basic skills" to Massachusetts elementary school curriculum.

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