In a region defined increasingly by its knowledge-based economy, access to educational attainment has become, in the words of Governor Romney, “a civil rights issue.”  A decade of school reform with a focus on higher standards is bearing fruit: MCAS improvement rates in the Boston Public Schools (BPS) surpassed the state average in nearly every grade in spring 2004, with long-term gains among all racial/ethnic groups despite persistent disparities.  The BPS is restructuring its high schools into smaller ‘schools within schools’, and Pilot and Charter Schools broaden the range of school choice.  Gaps in workforce training persist, with some 3,500 Bostonians on a waiting list for state-funded English for Speakers of Other Languages classes. 

The Commonwealth is on the verge of offering high quality, universal early education following passage of new legislation proposed as part of the Early Education for All Campaign.  And the new Great Schools Campaign is focusing on the state’s 115 failing schools, with an emphasis on math and science instruction and improving MCAS proficiency rates generally.  However, educational attainment rates at all levels largely continue to reflect family and community economic status, and Massachusetts’ public higher education system, despite its role in educating most Massachusetts residents who attend college, ranks 47th among all 50 states in fiscal year 2005 tax appropriations per capita.

Did you know?

• Boston has a long history of American education “firsts”: Boston Latin School, founded in 1635, was the first public school; Harvard College, founded in 1636, was the first college in the colonies; and the Boston Public Schools, founded in 1647, was the first school system.
• Boston School Superintendent Thomas Payzant received the prestigious Richard R. Green Award for Urban Excellence from the Council of Great City Schools in 2004.
• Legislation passed in 2004 — the result of the Early Education for All Campaign — establishes a new Department of Early Education and Care in Massachusetts.
  
  

See Education Highlights for the sector Context, Key Trends and Findings, Major Accomplishments and Innovation, Remaining Challenges, and Competition.