Leaders Racing to Close the Gap (Worcester Telegram and Gazette)

AS I SEE IT

By Paul Grogan

October 22, 2009

Massachusetts can boast a long tradition of leadership in education — after all, the very idea of public education was invented here. Today, the commonwealth stands poised to build on that heritage, reasserting its role as a national leader of school-based innovation. The success of this effort will have a significant impact on the state’s ability to thrive in the long term, as well as do much to close a persistent and unconscionable achievement gap that often impedes the progress of minority youth. And there is an important short-term incentive, as well.

The immediate prize for winning the race for education reform is a share of $4.35 billion in “Race to the Top” federal funding recently announced by President Barack Obama. That money will be distributed among states that act quickly to enact meaningful legislation.

The goal is clear: create an environment that strengthens and expands effective, innovative strategies. That means addressing chronically underperforming schools. It includes giving school systems the tools they need to make needed changes, and providing a portfolio of proven school options from the Readiness Schools proposed by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to in-district charter schools advanced by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. It also calls for lifting existing caps on charter schools, thus adding thousands of seats to a proven educational strategy that currently has more than 20,000 students on waiting lists.

Doing the right thing could amount to as much as $400 million for Massachusetts — if the Legislature can enact specific reforms before Nov. 18, when the legislative session ends.

In a year marked by budget cuts and school district layoffs, we simply cannot afford to walk away from a major influx of new education dollars that is available to us. And we win twice if we can use this opportunity to bring the historic process of education reform to the next level, better serving our children, bringing best practices into the school system to close the persistent gap in achievement that has been called the great civil rights issue of our time, isolating minority students in pockets of failure and frustration across the commonwealth.

Every district deserves the opportunity to meet the needs of its students. Every parent of a child in a low-performing school deserves the option of sending their children to a better school. The legislation currently under consideration applies our strongest reforms to the students most in need of greater opportunity. The level of inequality we continue to see across the commonwealth stands at a time when higher education is only becoming more important as a basic tool that can put the next generation on a career ladder promising access to the American dream in the increasingly competitive knowledge-based economy.

In response to this historic opportunity to make meaningful change happen, the Boston Foundation has convened a wide range of organizations from many sectors across the state to form a Race to the Top Coalition. We include urban and suburban residents, parents and businesspeople.

Among those organizations committed to moving the necessary legislation are the Massachusetts High Tech Council, Stand For Children, the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and MassInsight. In addition, business leadership groups including Leaders for Education, Boston Leaders for Education, the Progressive Business Leaders network and others have joined together in the effort to push for reform now, as have civic and community groups such as Black Leaders for Excellence in Education and Strategic Grant Partners.

In Massachusetts, we know what does not work: the status quo.

In response, Gov. Patrick and Mayor Menino have risen to the challenge, and each has filed important legislation that would make significant changes a reality, bringing real innovation to the commonwealth as a whole and to its largest urban center, and increasing the number of schools with the autonomy and accountability needed to create an opportunity for excellence.

This state has never shied away from innovation in public education. And we have seen it pay off in some of the very best public schools in the country. But that excellence has not reached all our students, and equality of opportunity for all has suffered. Simply put: Too many children are being denied the chance to learn and succeed. Now we have the opportunity to do the right thing for our children — and get paid for it.

Paul Grogan is president of the Boston Foundation.