Massachusetts

Massachusetts is facing a lawsuit that will likely lead to lifting the state’s cap on charter schools, further depriving traditional public schools of funding by allowing a potentially unlimited number of charter schools to develop. To combat this plan, education advocates are trying to demonstrate how lifting the cap will hurt students. The Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance (MEJA) is asking supporters to testify against the plan at a public hearing on Feb. 10th, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice intends to intervene on behalf of the students who would be most affected by this loss of funding: students learning English, students with disabilities, and students of color. These students are those charter schools typically “push out,” leaving traditional schools to unfairly teach the vast majority of students who require the most resources.

The Foundation Budget Review Commission, a bipartisan group of legislators and educators, released their findings on the state of education funding in Massachusetts and their recommendation for an ambitious new funding plan that would allow schools to more fully support programs to increase educational equity. While the plan would cost about half a billion dollars per year, it would also be the first step in addressing the substantial opportunity gap that exists in Massachusetts.

In mid-July, the Massachusetts-based Student Immigrant Movement led hundreds of students and allies in the fight for in-state tuition for undocumented students during a hearing before the state's Joint Committee on Education.

Graduating high school doesn't always mean that students are ready for college. To address this fact, the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy has released a new policy brief that provides one concrete way to help prepare students: early college programming in high schools.

Last week parents, students, teachers and community members across Massachusetts took part in a statewide week of action against the overuse of high stakes, standardized testing. The events were organized by the newly formed Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance and their local partner, the Boston Education Justice Alliance.

The newly formed Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance (MEJA) will be leading a week of action across the state in early June. Comprised of grassroots community groups and labor organizations across the state, MEJA is working with their local affiliate, the Boston Education Justice Alliance, to take a stand against the overuse of standardized testing and to fight for student and teacher rights.

The Boston Student Advisory Council released a first-of-its-kind website and phone app this week that is a great tool for empowering the city's students and ensuring the district respects their rights, particularly as they relate to school discipline.

As part of the ongoing Roadmap to Expanding Opportunity project, the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center has released a new policy brief designed to help advocates and educators make the case for expanding access to one particular resource in school: smaller class sizes.

City Councilor Tito Jackson and the Boston Student Advisory Committee held a hearing this past Monday proposing that a second student representative should be added to the Boston School Committee, and that both student representatives should have full voting rights.

The Boston Public Schools District has over 83% students of color, yet only 37% of its teachers are teachers of color. Building on the committment of district officials to cultivate teacher diversity, BPS must do more to achieve the goal of having a teaching force that reflects the students and citizens of Boston.