This is school-reform week in the Bay State, where Governor Deval Patrick is finally announcing a series of policy proposals that would amount to the biggest changes in state education law in fifteen years. What's not clear is whether these will be, ahem, changes we can believe in, or whether the legislature will even find the money to fund any of them. (Patrick is sketchy about the money part. "We're building a house," he said. "You design it first and then cost it out. We will pay for it.") Many of his proposals amount to "more": more pre-school, more supports for children aged zero to five, more pay for teachers in high-need schools or subjects. But a couple of ill-considered proposals amount to "less is more." First: it appears that he's reneging on his promise to snap the state cap on charter schools. Which is a shame, as the Massachusetts charter program is among the nation's best. Second, on teachers' contracts, he's proposing a single statewide agreement as a way to save local districts time and money. That's an intriguing notion; put into practice, however, we predict a huge give-away for the unions--among the governor's key backers. With all of these proposals, the devil's in Deval's details, but we have to thank to the governor for this: he's given America's ed-policy wonks lots to chew on in the dog days of summer ahead.
"Patrick rolls out plan to boost teacher quality," by Tania deLuzuriaga, Boston Globe, June 25, 2008
"Patrick presents plans for education," by Tania deLuzuriaga, Boston Globe, June 24, 2005
"Patrick targets gaps in learning," by Tania deLuzuriaga, Boston Globe, June 23, 2008