THREE YEARS AFTER a proposed compromise plan for expansion of a New Bedford charter school collapsed in the face of opposition from teachers unions and their legislative allies, the school is on track to complete its enrollment ramp-up this fall under a larger expansion that loomed as the backup plan. It’s a development that city […]
Jon Mitchell
Posted inEducation
Charter school proposal roils South Coast
IT’S BEEN MORE than five years since the debate over charter schools in Massachusetts came front and center in the form of a high-profile ballot question that would have raised the state cap on the independently run, but publicly funded, schools. But the decisive rejection of the measure by voters in 2016 has hardly settled […]
Posted inEducation
How New Bedford boosted its graduation rate
IN SEPTEMBER OF 2013, two months after her arrival as the district’s new school superintendent, Pia Durkin paid a visit to New Bedford High School one morning not long after the start of the school day. Durkin said there was a student heading out of the building just as she was walking in. She tried […]
Posted inEducation
State proposes sweeping change to vocational school admissions
FOUR YEARS AFTER elected officials and advocates began calling for changes to state regulations governing admission to vocational-technical high schools, Education Commissioner Jeff Riley is proposing a sweeping update to a system that critics say has let voc-tech schools “cream” higher-performing students while locking out English language learners, students of color, and special education and […]
Posted inEducation
Voc-tech schools facing scrutiny over admissions policies
AFTER YEARS OF complaints from city officials and urban school superintendents that vocational-technical schools are turning away some of the students who might benefit most from their hands-on learning programs, state education officials are reviewing the selective admission standards used by vocational schools that draw higher-performing students. Education commissioner Jeff Riley is expected to propose […]
Posted inEducation
Why I opposed New Bedford charter school plan
THE PROPOSED charter school expansion plan crafted by New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, Alma del Mar charter school, and state education Commissioner Jeff Riley earlier this year was simply too risky for New Bedford. After reading the memorandum of understanding (MOU), which became public in March of 2019, I saw this as a bad deal. […]
Posted inEducation
Riley throws in towel on New Bedford charter plan
FOUR MONTHS AFTER he unveiled a novel proposal for a New Bedford charter school billed as a way to ease the acrimony that has plagued the state’s education sector, Massachusetts education commissioner Jeff Riley pulled the plug on the plan, which had only seemed to trigger a fresh round of the warring he sought to […]
Posted inEducation
New Bedford charter school plan on the ropes
A PLAN TOUTED by state education leaders as a breakthrough compromise aimed at healing the rift between district and charter schools has instead inflamed passions on Beacon Hill where the proposal is faltering and has reignited one of the state’s most enduring education battles. The plan would put in place a novel structure for a […]