Race to the Top Coalition Applauds Extension of Education Reform Discussion

For immediate release: March 18, 2014 Contact: Ted McEnroe - 617-338-3890 [email protected]

Race to the Top Coalition applauds extension of education reform discussion

Boston – The Race to the Top Coalition, a statewide coalition of business, civic and community organizations, today reacted positively to a vote by the Joint Committee on Education to extend the deadline until next Tuesday for the release an education reform bill that would expand charters and provide new opportunities for school improvements across the state.

“We applaud this decision by the Joint Committee on Education to continue serious discussion of this critical issue in the coming week,” said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation on behalf of the Coalition.

“As we have throughout the process, The Race to the Top Coalition stands ready to discuss any and all reasonable proposals that benefit students and address other concerns without unfairly penalizing charters or other school improvement efforts. We have held numerous meetings and idea exchanges with committee members, and that good faith effort will continue throughout this process,” said Grogan.

The Coalition has stood firmly in support of “An Act to Further Narrow the Achievement Gap,” a bill sponsored by Sen. Barry Finegold (D-Andover) and Rep. Russell Holmes (D-Boston). The bill would update the Achievement Gap Act of 2010, which has helped usher in reforms that have made a measurable difference for thousands of Massachusetts students.

“This is a critical opportunity to improve the lives of thousands of students who need and deserve the best public education possible. To leave them in low-performing schools without needed support or quality school options is simply unacceptable, and we are confident that lawmakers are getting that message,” said Grogan.

“An Act to Further Narrow the Achievement Gap” has received support from parents and community leaders across the state, and has been endorsed by the editorial boards of nearly a dozen of the state’s largest newspapers – including the: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Lawrence Eagle Tribune, Springfield Republican, MetroWest Daily News, New Bedford Standard-Times, Lowell Sun, Fall River Herald News, Worcester Telegram and Gazette and Bay State Banner.

Among its provisions, the bill would lift the cap on charter school seats in some of the state’s lowest performing districts, as well as protecting reforms now underway in more than 40 Level 4 “turnaround” schools and expanding the opportunity for needed reforms to Level 3 schools in a school districts across the state. ------

The Race to the Top Coalition is a highly diverse group of business, community, civic and education leaders dedicated to closing the achievement gap in Massachusetts and improving outcomes for every student in the Commonwealth. Convened by the Boston Foundation in 2009, the Coalition played a major role in passing An Act Relevant to the Achievement Gap, signed into law by Governor Deval Patrick in 2010. The legislation doubled the number of charter school seats in the state, established innovative in-district schools and provided superintendents with new intervention powers in underperforming districts. Now the Coalition is focused on passing An Act to Further Narrow the Achievement Gap, which will eliminate the cap on public charter schools in the lowest performing districts, empower superintendents and school personnel to make critical changes in many other underperforming schools and promote other crucial innovations that will help to close the achievement gap in Massachusetts.