Education News

Boston City Councilors Push for PILOT Payments from Boston Colleges
This month the Boston Herald reported that Boston city councilors want to “wrest more money from Boston’s institutions of higher learning, saying they need to step up as taxpayers are squeezed to balance the city’s budget.” Read the full article.

AFT MA Comments on Proposed School Accountability Regulations
Last week, AFT MA submitted comments to the DESE on the proposed revisions to the school and district accountability regulations, 603 CMR 2.00 Read their letter.

North Carolina Teachers March for Students, Rally for Respect
Some 15,000 teachers rallied last Wednesday in Raleigh, North Carolina in another educator uprising aimed at improving public schools. The teachers are demanding better pay and working conditions, and more funding for public schools struggling with a shortage of teacher assistants and counselors, outdated textbooks and old technology. Many hope to shift the Legislature by electing more pro-public education candidates.Read the full New York Times article.

New Report Shows Glaring Course Inequities
The Journey for Justice Alliance released a report May 14 that reveals deep inequities in public education, based on vastly different course offerings available at different schools and in different communities. “Failing Brown v. Board” shows that in every comparison, majority-white schools offered more academic subjects and arts education than majority-black and/or -brown schools. Read the full report.

Teachers Spend Hundreds of Own Funds on Supplies
A new National Center for Education Statistics report shows that teachers spend an average of $479 a year on school supplies out of their own pockets. With public schools so underfunded, it’s the only way they can provide their students the supplies they need for a high-quality education. See the full report.