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Articles by Todd Gazda
We are shortchanging rural schools and the students they educate
ON A TYPICAL morning at Chester Elementary School, a small rural school of 127 students in grades PreK through 5 in the foothills of the Berkshires, the work of education looks much like it does anywhere else. This is my school, where I have the privilege of being the principal. I greet every student by name at the door each morning when they arrive, mostly by bus, some after long rides along winding roads.
Source: Healey picks BMC chief to head health and human services
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. MAURA HEALEY has tapped Kate Walsh, president and CEO of Boston Medical Center, to lead the state's sprawling health and human services secretariat, the largest department in state government that manages everything from MassHealth to the child welfare system and the opioid epidemic, according to a source familiar with the search. Walsh will succeed Marylou Sudders, who headed the agency during the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker.
Top budget officials still undecided on tax cuts
STATE REVENUES are expected to rise slightly in the coming fiscal year, but top budget officials from the Legislature and Healey administration say it's still unclear whether there is enough money to enact permanent tax cuts. At the end of last year's legislative session, former governor Charles Baker and Senate leaders wanted to press ahead with $500 million in permanent tax cuts in addition to nearly $3 billion in one-time refunds from the state's tax cap law.
Staff shortages throughout K-12 education are taking a toll
Pollution inequality must stop; enforce roadmap law MASSACHUSETTS IS HOME to some of the greatest inequalities in pollution in the nation. According to Northeastern Professor Daniel Faber, Boston ranks fourth for disparities in air pollution and Massachusetts ranks in the top three states in the country for locating hazardous waste facilities next to the elderly and people living in poverty.
Special treatment considered for revenue from millionaire tax
TOP BUDGET OFFICIALS from the Legislature say they intend to abide by the will of the voters and make sure all revenue from the new millionaire tax goes to "new initiatives" in transportation and education. Exactly what would qualify as a "new initiative" hasn't been decided yet (is a new bus or subway car a new initiative?), nor has any decision been made on whether the money would be evenly split between education and transportation. "That's all to be discussed," said Sen.
Staff shortages throughout K-12 education are taking a toll
AS 2023 OPENED, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education met on January 3 for a special meeting and had just one item listed on the agenda: "Goal setting process for accountability system and Student Opportunity Act." In recognition of the fact that the pandemic has impacted students and communities differently, at that meeting the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education proposed a four-tiered set of targets for districts depending upon the amount of decline in...
CommonWealth Magazine
That may be the chief takeaway as we near the end of the first week of the month-long Orange Line shutdown. After all the buildup and hype - by the media and state officials -the shutdown hasn't been all that bad so far. There was definitely inconvenience and some hiccups here and there, but it was nothing like the " new circle of hell " the Boston Globe had predicted on Monday in their top news story.
CommonWealth Magazine
That may be the chief takeaway as we near the end of the first week of the month-long Orange Line shutdown. After all the buildup and hype - by the media and state officials -the shutdown hasn't been all that bad so far. There was definitely inconvenience and some hiccups here and there, but it was nothing like the " new circle of hell " the Boston Globe had predicted on Monday in their top news story.
CommonWealth Magazine
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY funding issues, consensus-building across different interests, and navigating a system that balances campus autonomy with government leadership are among the pressure points state higher education overseers highlighted Thursday as they set out to narrow the field of potential new commissioners.
CommonWealth Magazine
THE BOARD of Elementary and Secondary Education's recent decision to raise the score high school student must reach to pass the MCAS and graduate from high school is yet another slap in the face for public educators across the Commonwealth. Coming out of the COVID pandemic MCAS scores reported in September 2021 dropped from pre-pandemic levels. Does anyone truly find this as a surprise?
What’s so dangerous about critical thinking? - CommonWealth Magazine
Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society. – John Lewis ONE CANNOT HELP but be troubled by the events that have transpired across our country over the past few years.
Finding middle ground in the debate over recess - CommonWealth Magazine
Education/ Opinion Let’s recognize the value of unstructured play time By Todd Gazda recess, Social-emotional learning Dec 26, 2019 Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood. – Fred Rogers AS EDUCATORS, the most precious resource we have is time. There never seems to be enough of it to cover the ever increasing litany of skills and content we need to teach our students on a daily basis.
Time to rethink education assessments and standards
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. – Socrates THIS PAST SUMMER saw the failure on the part of the Legislature to arrive at a compromise piece of legislation designed to begin the process of remedying the flaws to educational funding formula articulated in the report released three years ago by the Foundation Budget Review Commission.
On schools, Baker a one trick pony
HERE WE GO again. Recently, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito attended another rally in support of Gov. Charlie Baker’s legislation designed to raise the cap on charter schools entitled. I find it disturbing that the only educational policy coming out of the governor’s office on how to reform public education continues to be the need for more charter schools. Gov.
Charter narrative gets story wrong - CommonWealth Magazine
A narrative is like a room on whose walls a number of false doors have been painted; while within the narrative, we have many apparent choices of exit, but when the author leads us to one particular door, we know it is the right one because it opens. – John Updike AS THE CHARTER school debate continues to blaze, in this state and across the country, it is helpful to examine the narrative which is driving this push by charter advocates to increase the number of charter schools.
Policy overload on fixing schools - CommonWealth Magazine
When public policy goes one way and the premises of a culture go the other, you’ve got the formula for an unsustainable system of education. – Angus Campbell THERE IS CURRENTLY a disconnect between development and implementation of educational policy in the United States.
Time to put standardized tests to the test
IT’S THAT TIME of year again. State standardized testing season is upon us. Across the Commonwealth students in grades 3 and up will have the opportunity to prove what they have learned over the course of this year through their performance on a standardized state assessment. At least, theoretically, that it is what these tests are supposed to measure.
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