We agree with the BlueMassGroupies

By Jim Stergios
May 7th, 2008

Seems that the blue mass groupers have a hook caught in the gill regarding our clarity on the Governor’s undoing of education reform.

Let’s say right up front: We’ve worked well in the playpen with folks in the Patrick administration from day one on consolidating the locally managed pension system, the (first-year, ahem) down payment on the state’s $13 billion long-term health care liability, reforms to increase home ownership in our inner cities, the recent transportation reforms, water conservation and much, much more. There is a lot of talent in the administration.

We have also opposed lots of stupid stuff by this Guv, but that is our job. We have opposed the structural irresponsibility of his FY09 budget. The biotech giveaway. The corporate tax hikes (also a fave move by former Governor Romney, who raised them even more — but, as mom used to say, two wrongs don’t make a right, especially when you’re giving corporate welfare to a single industry and when revenues are hitting record highs).

Most of all, we oppose Guv Patrick’s gutting of education reform. The blue mass groupies wonder why that is. Oh, groupies, let me count the ways…

- He has eliminated educational accountability (the reason for Sec. Spellings’ visit)–see the Globe editorial “School Reform Held Back” on just this point.
- By making appointments like that of Ruth Kaplan, the Guv introduces such wonderful ideas as “families don’t always know what’s best for their children” and charter schools are too focused on college preparation.
- The Guv could not make a proclamation in honor of National Charter School Week. He, to my knowledge, has not visited a single charter school since his inauguration. His board chair (Reville) attacked a SABIS International proposal to create a 1300-student charter to serve the Brockton/Randolph region. (Note Reville, in a previous life, called the SABIS school in Springfield one of the state’s best.) Charters (and to some extent pilots) are viable ways to close the achievement gap, and he is paying no attention. Worse, he is seemingly anti-charter.
- He played politics with the commissioner’s search for ten months, and it was an uphill battle the whole way to get Mitch Chester in (the first out of state commish in 20 years, strong accountability background, etc.).
- He restructured the board of ed in a way that diminished its independence, effectively erasing a 170-year legacy of a board of ed with policy distance from the executive branch. (That was, ahem, Horace Mann’s legacy, btw.) As the Globe noted, he “has managed quietly to concentrate nearly all of the power over state education policy in his office.”
- Reville was on the record supporting waivers for teacher testing — another key element of the 1993 education reform act. Also, see here. (He has since backed away from that after public pressure.)

So the bluemass groupies have asked if Pioneer supports Reville’s comment that school-based merit pay should be considered? Yes. Thank you. We agree. Pioneer over a course of years has done events and produced work supportive of a wide variety of merit pay options for teachers.

See, we agree!