A Boston Globe op-ed tells us that, long before he was governor of Massachusetts, the young Deval Patrick "earned a scholarship from A Better Chance, an organization that provides educational opportunities to young people of color." That scholarship transported him from Chicago's South Side to Boston's Milton Academy and eventually through the fabled iron gates of Harvard Yard. But despite the incalculable benefits Patrick received from such promising educational options, his newish Readiness Project (a ten-year plan for improving public education in the Bay State) does not provide for others the opportunities that he himself enjoyed. Authors Charles Chieppo and Jamie Gass note that the Readiness Project is "silent on charters" and that Patrick's administration "has even floated the possibility of freezing them" in certain districts. What a missed opportunity. Patrick would do well to amend his education plan--using his own experiences as a guide.
"Ready for more educational choices," by Charles Chieppo and Jamie Gass, Boston Globe, August 5, 2008