State News

Rural School Aid in State Budget

Posted on Friday, July 27th, 2018 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Bob Salsbert and Steve LeBlanc, Greenfield Recorder/Associated Press
Date: July 26, 2018
Link: Complete Article

BOSTON — Massachusetts’ new budget includes $1.5 million for a new “rural school aid” account championed by Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield. Nearly one month into the state’s new fiscal year, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed the $42 billion spending package into law Thursday, ending the state’s status as the only one in the nation without… [Read More]

400 Attend Annual DYS Art Showcase

Posted on Friday, May 25th, 2018 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Martha Maloney, Collaborative for Educational Services
Date: 5/25/2018

Over 400 people from across the Commonwealth filled the space at WGBH Studios in Brighton on Tuesday, May 15th to celebrate the work of youth involved with the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services, at the 6th Annual Statewide DYS Youth Arts Showcase, “Share Your Art, Share Your Voice”. The Showcase is part of work to… [Read More]

Baker-Polito Administration Signs Criminal Justice Reform Laws, Proposes Additional Reforms

Posted on Tuesday, April 17th, 2018 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Susan Petroni, Framingham Source
Date: 4/13/2018
Link: Complete Article

BOSTON – Governor Charlie Baker today signed An Act Implementing the Joint Recommendations of the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Review and An Act Relative to Criminal Justice Reform. After careful review of the comprehensive legislation and initial discussions with the Legislature, the Baker-Polito Administration will also file a separate bill today, An Act Building on Criminal Justice Reform, to modify certain provisions…. [Read More]

ESE Issues Fiscal Conditions in Rural School Districts Report

Posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2018 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Kathy Levesque, Collaborative for Educational Services
Date: 3/2/2018

In January, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) filed a report with the Joint Committee on Ways & Means, the Joint Committee on Education and the Commonwealth’s Rural Policy Advisory Commission on Fiscal Conditions in Rural School Districts. The report was part of a feasibility study requested by the legislature, relative to establishing… [Read More]

Jeff Riley Will Be Massachusetts’ New Education Commissioner

Posted on Tuesday, January 30th, 2018 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Max Larkin, WBUR.org
Date: 1/30/2017
Link: Complete Article

It’s official: Jeff Riley will be the state’s next education commissioner. Members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted 8-3 to recommend Riley for the post. Among his supporters, Education Sec. James Peyser, who will make the official appointment. “Riley is probably the best choice for us at this time,” Peyser said. Riley… [Read More]

Gov. Charlie Baker signs bilingual education bill into law

Posted on Monday, November 27th, 2017 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Elisha Mashado, WWLP
Date: 11/27/2017
Link: Complete Article

BOSTON (WWLP) – Governor Charlie Baker signed a bill into law last week that allows students to participate in programs where they learn in both their native language and English. The new law allows schools to develop new approaches for teaching students who are learning English, like dual language education, a program that allows students… [Read More]

Afterschool programs work Let’s fund services with huge dividends for children and families

Posted on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2017 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Ardith Wieworka, Commonwealth Magazine
Date: 9/23/2017
Link: Complete Article

Each year, thousands of working Massachusetts families rely on afterschool programs to provide a safe, supervised haven for their children. But there are thousands more children sitting on wait lists for affordable, quality programs. Parents know afterschool programs inspire their children to learn and help them academically as well as to develop the social and… [Read More]

State hopes to hire new education czar by end of the year

Posted on Wednesday, August 16th, 2017 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Katie Lannan, Lowell Sun
Date: 8/15/2017
Link: Complete Article

MALDEN — The state education board is embarking on its first search for a new elementary and secondary education commissioner in a decade, with top officials hoping to land on a candidate by the end of the year. Commissioner Mitchell Chester — who had been the longest-serving chief state school officer in the country —… [Read More]

Urban legislators don’t get the struggle to fund large, rural bus routes

Posted on Thursday, July 13th, 2017 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Greenfield Recorder Editorial Staff, Greenfield Recorder
Date: 7/13/2017
Link: Complete Article

Maybe someone should arrange a school bus ride across the 530 road miles of the Mohawk Trail Regional School District for state legislators from those geographically tiny Boston metro cities and towns. Seriously. How else will the majority of state lawmakers, who hail from urban areas, truly understand the scale of the fiscal problem districts… [Read More]

Mitchell Chester, State’s Longtime Education Commissioner, Dies At 65

Posted on Tuesday, June 27th, 2017 by Collaborative for Educational Services

Source: Katie Lannan, WBUR
Date: 6/27/2017
Link: Complete Article

Longtime Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester died Monday evening after a short illness, the state’s education board chairman announced at a Tuesday meeting. He was 65. “We were obviously stunned by his death and deeply saddened,” Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Chair Paul Sagan said. Chester had been battling cancer. The board… [Read More]