As we near the end of 2013, it is an appropriate time to mark the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Education Reform Act of 1993. With 20 years of dramatically improved academic performance in our Massachusetts public schools, we can say unequivocally that education reform has been a success. Massachusetts students score at the top in every subject at every grade level tested by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the “nation’s report card.”
It wasn’t always so. In 1992, Massachusetts stood 17th in Grade 4 mathematics and 26th in Grade 8 mathematics. At the time, the Massachusetts economy was at a crossroads. Leaving or declining were many traditional industries such as electronics, textiles, heavy machinery, and the fleeting minicomputer industry.
If the economy was to effectively transition to the emerging knowledge-based industries, its public schools would have to do better. It was a message delivered by state business leaders to the state’s new governor, Bill Weld. He would eventually embrace it. In the end, the Republican governor would propose a bill, authored largely by future education secretary Michael Sentence, that would eventually mingle, modify and meld with the provisions of the reform bills authored by two Democrats, Representative Mark Roosevelt and Senator Tom Birmingham, co-chairs of legislature’s education committee. The Education Reform Act of 1993 would bring a new common core curriculum to Massachusetts public schools. The common core would accompanied by higher teacher standards, billions in additional funds, charter schools, school choice, and the MCAS test – a student assessment and diagnostic that would be tied to high standards and high stakes. The passage of the act was difficult, accomplished only after a year of debate. Its implementation was as daunting, especially in maintaining the requirement that high school students pass the 10th grade MCAS in order to graduate with a diploma.
Doing Well
While there is some fear that the gains of the past 20 years are in peril with the Commonwealth’s pending embrace of the seemingly lower standards emanating from Washington, we can nonetheless appreciate successes gained. In these past 20 years, we have asked more of school teachers, administrators, parents, and, most certainly, students. They have delivered. Massachusetts not only leads the nation in K-12 performance, we are the only state that, when measured against other nations, places in the top 20 performers.
Massachusetts is not the least expensive place to live or do business. New England’s climate is not the easiest to weather. In the competitive global economy, what differentiates Massachusetts from its competitors is its highly educated and skilled workforce. Home to many of the world’s premier universities, hospitals, and companies, Massachusetts draws a great amount of talent from beyond its borders.
As we can’t always count on retaining recruited talent, the performance of our public schools is all the more important. Massachusetts participates in the innovation economy – life sciences, information technology, clean tech and other industries. Considering the advantages that Massachusetts lacks in cost and climate, in order for it to compete in these industries, it must lead in them. While there is more work to be done in spreading improved performance to every school district and each school, we are very much beholden to those that waged the difficult battles 20 years ago to get us to where we are today. Massachusetts is a more prosperous state because of their vision and determination and a generation of public school graduates face the future with an educational foundation that provides them a chance to compete and succeed.
Peter Abair is director of economic development and global affairs at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio).
