Will Brownsberger — State Senator, Democrat, 2d Suffolk and Middlesex District

Hi Will, This is my fault for not taking the time over the years to ask you about your position in person. You certainly are always available. I know others who feel the same way that I do so I thought I would ask on this snowy morning to get some clarification on this issue. [...]

The present House Education Chair, Rep. Alice Peisch, and her predecessor, Rep. Marty Walz, have taken a strong leadership role in shaping an approach to expanding virtual education in Massachusetts.

While I voted against the gambling bill, I think that we got a number of other good things done in this session. The biggest may be the redistricting plan which has been widely praised for the increase it creates in the number of districts from which minority candidates may potentially be elected.

One special thing about special education is that it is extremely expensive. State auditor Suzanne Bump has released  scathing critiques of three special education collaboratives in Massachusetts, detailing misuse of millions of dollars of funds. I first heard the story reported on WBUR. Now I fear that more shoes may drop. My question to Will: [...]

On Tuesday, June 21, at 10AM in Room A-2 in the State House, the Education Committee will hear testimony on two pieces of legislation related to the membership of the board of education. Both bills — House 1088 (sponsored by Rep. Walz) and House 1917 (sponsored by Rep. Garballey) — are designed to assure that [...]

Hi Will … I am curious if you know much about the services provided to educators by the DOE.  I am talking about licensure, MTEL, etc. The level of service for licensure particularly has steadily dropped over the years due to budget cuts.  At the moment a teacher with questions about their license can only [...]

My education agenda for 2011-2 is about action but also about continued discussion and reflection.

I sent my annual priorities statement to the House Ways and Means Committee today.

There is little to suggest any course is relevant to job success  (history, literature, social studies,…). The requirement for job success is communication (language proficiency, and writing), abstract reasoning (often thought to be taught via mathematics), critical reasoning (this and writing are assumed to be taught in all the other courses via seminar-like discussion of [...]

Will, Seeing the budget situation is fluid I had a few questions related to Belmont and State funds. The Belmont Schools have budgeted approximately $1.1m for increases in the SPED budget. About $530,000 of that is lost stimulus funding and the balance is a projected 11% increase in y/y SPED costs based on historical data [...]

We had a good meeting on education technology directions last night in Belmont. For me, the strongest take away was that we need to think mainly about liberating creative energy.

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is not only failing to lead, but affirmatively inhibiting progress in online learning.

These funds are flowing directly from the federal government through state executive branch agencies to schools. They are apparently not subject to legislative action at either the state or local level.

Recent actions by the United States House of Representatives may result in new cuts in all state accounts, including local aid.

Massachusetts is moving forward to allow the creation of virtual schools. The progress is good news, although we may still be moving too cautiously.

In response to a proposal initially made by the Arlington teachers’ union, and after considerable consultation with many affected parties and experts, the members of the Arlington legislative delegation (Senator Donnelly, Reps. Garballey and Kauffman and myself) have developed and committed to support the amendment appearing below to the municipal relief bill. It will be [...]

According to a joint statement from House and Senate legislative leaders issued last night, local aid will be cut no more than 4% and all schools will receive foundation aid at a minimum. I will seeking specific computations as to my communities.

News reports of yesterday’s closed-door house caucus — to the effect that cuts of roughly 5% in local aid are likely — are correct.

Further below see a proposal made by the Arlington Education Association for an early retirement incentive ERI for teachers. I think this concept deserves some careful study.

YES, I vote for more control . Charter Schools are the only alternative right now so I am in favor of them. But we really need to change the System to Merit pay for teachers. Any Better yet go to  a voucher system.