December 2006

Volume 29, Number 9  
December 2006  

On November 20, Governor Mitt Romney designated Massachusetts High Technology Council President Christopher Anderson as Chairman of the Massachusetts state Board of Education (BOE), the nine-member panel that oversees policy for K-12 education in Massachusetts. Romney had previously named Anderson to serve as the BOE’s business representative in January 2006.

“I appreciate this opportunity from Governor Romney and look forward to building on his leadership in striving for meaningful standards, innovative educational choices and enhanced math and science instruction for all Massachusetts students,” said Anderson. “The world is changing and our state’s education system must do the same - for the sake of all our teachers and students - if we are to improve our competitive edge in the global technology economy.”

Progress for Struggling Schools at First BOE Meeting

At Anderson’s first meeting as Chair, on November 28, the board supported his proposal to provide a lifeline to students and teachers in some of the state’s poorest performing schools. Four schools – one from Boston, one from Fitchburg and two from Springfield – were poised to enter “chronically underperforming” status, the lowest possible designation for Massachusetts public schools. But the BOE members supported Anderson’s motion to postpone the vote on failing status and instead offer these four schools the opportunity to transform into a school similar to Boston’s successful Pilot School model.

Pilot schools are innovative learning centers that have increased autonomy and flexibility from the work rules in effect at traditional public schools. Created in Boston as a competitive response to Commonwealth Charter Schools, the City’s 20 Pilot schools have shown improved student achievement and have been very popular among students, teachers, parents and administrators. Unlike Charter Schools, Pilot Schools are created with the input and support of the local teachers’ union. Anderson emphasized that collaboration among all parties – the state, the district, the teachers and higher education institutions – is essential for allowing these four schools to avoid chronic status and successfully transform into a Pilot-type school.

Driscoll to Take Point on Conversion Project

In the timeframe leading up to the BOE’s December 19 meeting, Education Commissioner David Driscoll will lead the Department of Education’s (DOE) efforts to create the process for converting these schools into Pilots. While these four schools, in the end, would essentially look like a Pilot, there would be increased involvement and support from the state than in the creation of a typical Pilot School. Driscoll will also serve as the primary liaison to the three communities through this process.

Strong Praise for Pilot Model

Anderson’s proposal drew positive reactions from the educational leaders and editorial boards throughout the state. "No one wants their school to be tagged as underperforming," Fitchburg Mayor Dan Mylott told the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise. "This is a positive alternative." In testimony at the BOE meeting, Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Executive Director Thomas Scott praised the spirit of collaboration and “empowerment” of Anderson’s proposal. Scott, who serves as chair of MassPartners for Public Schools¸ an association of organizations representing teachers' unions and other school leaders, indicated that MassPartners had “considerable interest” in the pilot model approach.

The Springfield Republican editorial page came out strongly for Anderson’s proposal: “Rather than the state dictating the turnaround strategy for failing schools, Anderson proposes a more collaborative approach which would allow teachers and administrators to design their own solutions to improve their schools.” The Boston Herald editorialized that providing flexibility and eliminating “bureaucratic hoops” will result in student improvement and that “educators should leap at the chance” to convert. The Lowell Sun wrote: “The suggestion, met with support from DOE Commissioner David Driscoll, BOE members and several school officials, marked Anderson as a chairman working to bring several parties together and move quickly for positive change.”

Anderson: Chairmanship Validation of Leadership Team’s Work

Anderson noted that his elevation to Chairman was in recognition of the collaborative work this year of the Council’s Education Leadership Initiative, a public-private partnership with the goal of making the state’s K-12 public education system – particularly around math and science – the best in the world. The Initiative, co-chaired by Analog Devices Chairman Ray Stata and Genzyme Chairman and CEO Henri Termeer, brings together the major stakeholders in the education delivery system – teachers’ unions, superintendents, higher education officials, legislators and business leaders – on a common agenda designed to make Massachusetts schools the best in the world.

Romney reinforced the importance of math and science education by also naming Tom Fortmann, who founded the non-profit Massachusetts Mathematics Institute, and Sandra Stotsky, a former DOE Deputy Commissioner with a strong math and science education background, to the board.

“BRAC” Approach Built on Cooperation

Anderson compared this approach with that of the efforts to protect Hanscom Air Force Base and the Natick Soldier Systems Center during the federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process that culminated in 2005. To address that threat, the Council created the Massachusetts Defense Technology Initiative (MassDTI), a bipartisan collaborative of private and public sector parties that had not previously worked together on a common goal. Because of the broad and diverse collection of partners, MassDTI was extremely effective and its efforts saved the bases and the 30,000 related jobs. Anderson emphasized that the threat of global educational competition, while not on a specific timetable, is a much greater threat to Massachusetts and the nation than the BRAC closures.

Finding Driscoll’s Successor Key BOE Task

One of the critical tasks for the BOE in 2007 is a replacement for outgoing DOE Commissioner David Driscoll. Driscoll was officially named Commissioner in 1999 and has shown strong leadership throughout his tenure – particularly around the debate and implementation of the MCAS graduation requirement. Driscoll will retire next summer and the BOE must then agree on a new Commissioner for the next generation of education reform.

Council Congratulates Gov.-Elect Patrick

The Council’s new role in setting the agenda to begin transforming the state’s education delivery systems comes against the backdrop of a new Governor and the first Democratic Administration in 16 years. Deval Patrick, a relative political unknown when he entered the Governor’s race in 2005, ran an impressive campaign and handily beat two well-financed opponents in the Democratic primary before his landslide victory over Lt. Governor Kerry Healey in November.

The Council congratulates Governor-elect Patrick on his history-making election and looks forward to working with him and his team through the current transition period and into his term that begins in January. CEO members of the Council’s Board of Directors – Josh Boger of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Martin Madaus of Millipore Corp., and Mitch Tyson of Advanced Electron Beams – served on Patrick’s business cabinet during the campaign. Boger, the Council’s incoming Vice Chairman for 2007, was named to Patrick’s transition team, which will help make critical personnel recommendations and set the policy agenda for the new Administration.

Council Launches Enhanced CEO Survey

Since 1987, the Council has set its public policy agenda through an annual survey of its CEO members. By completing the High Tech CEO Business Climate Survey, members help the Council's board of directors prioritize efforts on issues of tax/economic policy, education, health care and public infrastructure. Beginning this year, the Council enhanced the CEO survey to include new important features in an effort to improve its utility.

Last year for the first time, the CEO Survey results were linked to MassTrack, which assessed the support of the 200 members of the state Legislature on their votes on public policy priorities identified in our survey. MassTrack’s legislative assessment tool was launched in October and has already helped create a stronger dialog with state leaders about the technology community’s agenda. MassTrack is unique because it weighs each individual vote based on how important that vote is to the leadership of the state's technology community. With the election of a new governor, this year’s survey results will be critical for identifying the Council’s priorities and continuing the momentum of MassTrack into the next legislative session.

Monitor Brings Cluster Analysis to Survey

This year the Council added a new component by teaming up with the Cambridge-based global consulting firm The Monitor Group. A portion of the survey incorporates a feature developed by Monitor designed to gain a better sense of the depth and breadth of the Massachusetts innovation economy as it relates to the nation and the world. By asking the same set of questions of executives in different countries, regions, and clusters around the world, Monitor has built a sizeable database on the factors that drive regional competitiveness.

The survey responses will enable Monitor to quickly benchmark Massachusetts against targeted regions and/or clusters around the world, identify key strengths and weaknesses, and help the Council develop a prioritized action agenda for boosting the competitiveness of our regional economy. Working with these data the Council can strengthen its efforts on behalf of various technology clusters, look for national or global partnerships that could benefit our members, and design specific strategies to make Massachusetts more globally competitive. The Council will also be working with Mass High Tech, the weekly journal of regional technology, to disseminate the survey to its readership list of thousands of technology executives in an effort to reveal the entire snapshot of the state’s economy.

For more information on the survey, or if you are not currently a Council member but would like to participate, please contact the Council’s Director, Member Services Daniella Lutz ( daniella@mhtc.org).

Pioneer Study Shows MA Costly

A Pioneer Institute study released in November put hard numbers behind a reality most Massachusetts technology CEOs deal with on a daily basis: Massachusetts is a high cost state for doing business. The study showed how costs for specific Massachusetts technology sectors – including defense technology, life sciences and semiconductor equipment – measured up against competitor states. Overall, Massachusetts’s costs were on par with that of New York state, but were higher when compared with newer competitors like Texas and North Carolina and neighboring states like New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Unemployment Insurance Still Uncompetitive

The study showed that the Massachusetts Unemployment Insurance system is the most uncompetitive of our peer states. The high costs for the Commonwealth’s system are created not by a high wage base, but the longest-in-the nation benefit duration and weak eligibility standards. While in 2005 Governor Romney proposed a comprehensive reform of the UI system that would have saved employers $250 million annually, the measure stalled in the Legislature. The Council will work with the Patrick Administration and the Legislature to make the UI system more competitive.

For more information on the Pioneer study, please visit www.pioneerinstitute.org.

New Runway Opens at Logan

On Thanksgiving Day, Logan Airport opened its long-awaited sixth runway, officially ending a protracted political battle in which the Council played a key role. The runway, designed to reduce avoidable delays due to wind, and a new $55 million taxiway now awaiting final federal approval, are two key parts of a recent $4 billion modernization of Logan to make it safer, and more efficient and convenient for New England air travelers.