CLT UPDATE
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Dreamer Deval plans billions more in
spending:
Hand-outs for hands out
Governor Deval Patrick plans to unveil a proposal
today to make Massachusetts' community colleges, among the priciest
in the nation, free to all high school graduates in the state by the
year 2015, according to documents obtained by the Globe.
The proposal is the centerpiece of Patrick's vision for a "cradle to
career" education system that would dramatically expand the concept
of public education in Massachusetts.
The plan, which he will outline during commencement at the
University of Massachusetts at Boston, would also provide preschool
for all children, extend the school day and year, and guarantee two
years of community college paid for by the state.
But Patrick's ambitious plan includes neither price tags nor funding
proposals as the state struggles financially. Instead, it calls for
a commission that would be charged with transforming the plan into
reality.
The Boston Globe
Friday, June 1, 2007
Patrick seeks free two-year state colleges
Goal is key in 'cradle to career' plan
CLT would be very concerned about Gov. Patrick’s
latest proposal for free (i.e., taxpayer-funded) two-year state
college tuition and universal pre-school, if we thought he’d ever
actually do it. But we are still waiting for his promised property
tax relief. In fact, we are still waiting for his actual plan,
showing exactly how raising local option taxes would cut the average
taxpayers’ bill.
CLT News Release
Friday, June 1, 2007
Only the Latest Patrick Proposal
Patrick, beaming before a crowd of 10,000
graduates and their families gathered beside Dorchester Bay,
outlined his vision of public education in his commencement address
to graduates of the state's most diverse public university. He
called for universal preschool, full-day kindergarten, a longer
school day and year, and at least two years of college or technical
education, paid for by the state.
He dismissed concerns about funding ...
His plan -- to unfold over a decade, instead of eight years as aides
said earlier -- has potentially hefty price tags each year,
including $120 million for full-day kindergarten, $600 million for
universal preschool, $1.3 billion for a longer school day and year
statewide, and $180 million for free tuition and fees for community
college students, according to estimates from state officials and
education advocates.
Lawmakers and taxpayer groups fear that Patrick is raising
unrealistic expectations. Already he has proposed spending $1
billion over 10 years for medical research and biotechnology,
without a guaranteed source of funding, among other plans.
Citizens for Limited Taxation called the governor's plans "a
dreamer's wish list" and said they doubted lawmakers would pass his
education plans.
House minority leader Bradley H. Jones Jr., Republican of North
Reading, said the governor was promising things he cannot deliver.
Cities and towns are struggling to pass overrides, he said.
"He fails to inject a dose of reality," he said. "I'm one of those
pragmatists that he laments, but if it's so easy to do, then why . .
. aren't there any details of the costs?"
The Boston Globe
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Governor stirs UMass-Boston graduates
They cheer his plan for 2-year colleges
"Those voices have always represented a
resistance to human progress," Patrick said. "Masquerading as
pragmatists, they lull us into believing that problems we made are
beyond our capacity to care about and to solve. But I remind you
that the American experience and the American character have, at
critical moments in our history, been bigger than that, and they
must be again."
One critic said it was Patrick who was masquerading.
"He just keeps saying things he apparently doesn't mean. He throws
out his ideas with no way of paying for them," said Barbara
Anderson of Citizens for Limited Taxation. "He just has
these wacky ideas. He's doing his dreamer thing, his 'Together We
Can.' No, we can't." ...
Patrick also has proposed a $1.4 billion commuter rail connection
between Boston and Fall River and New Bedford, hoping that costs
will be offset by new economic development along the route.
"The state has transportation needs before we start giving away
higher education," said David Tuerck, executive director of the
Beacon Hill Institute, a conservative economic think tank. "In his
heart of hearts, he thinks he can always get a tax increase to pay
for his spending plans, but I think he's wrong about that."
The Berkshire Eagle
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Patrick's plan to change the education system
is met with applause, skepticism
Five months after taking office, and with several
controversies behind him, Gov. Deval Patrick has settled into his
governing routine.
He is secretive about his developing proposals to the point of
dashing away from inquiring reporters. He relishes getting outside
the Statehouse, escaping Boston and drawing attention to the other
350 cities and towns in Massachusetts. And if it's Friday, count on
an announcement or appearance in western Massachusetts -- most
usually on a road leading to his Berkshires vacation home.
The state's first Democratic governor in 16 years is asserting
himself, in ways big and small, even if he can't fully answer all
the questions he is raising in the process....
When pressed about whether he is overextending the state credit
card, Patrick has replied with cool confidence.
"No, no, no. It's my job to make sure we can afford it," he said
recently....
The most consistent trait of Patrick's tenure,
though, may be the governor's confidence in the correctness of his
decisions.
The Associated Press
Friday, June 1, 2007
Confidence and a dearth of details
hallmarks of Patrick's tenure
First, figure out what you want. Then, find a way
to pay for it.
That is emerging as part of Gov. Deval Patrick's governing style,
and his critics are already picking up on it. Minutes after he
outlined an expansive and ambitious vision of education reform at a
UMass Boston commencement Friday, his critics were denouncing it as
too expensive and demanding he tell us where the money would come
from....
There are some strong voices in Massachusetts -- Barbara Anderson,
legislative leaders of both parties and the talk show crowd -- whose
political vision begins and ends with keeping taxes down. They
begrudge even the status quo if it requires new revenue. They have
no ideas and they want to hear no ideas that don't involve tax cuts.
The MetroWest Daily News
Saturday, June 2, 2007
A MetroWest Daily News editorial
The next debate over education
While applauding Gov. Deval Patrick for tackling
education reform, lawmakers and economists warned yesterday that his
plan could top $1 billion a year and erode the state’s emphasis on
rigorous testing to spur student achievement....
“I question whether he is setting us up for over-promising and
under-delivering,” said House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North
Reading). “These lofty goals are all well and good, but there’s a
reality to face here, which is how are you going to pay for it.”
Michael Widmer, director of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation,
said funding Patrick’s initiatives will easily cost more than $1
billion a year, a cost that would have to be borne by broad-based
tax increases or a sudden windfall of economic growth.
The Boston Herald
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Gov’s plans on education face exams:
Critics question costs
A bill pending before the state Legislature,
however, would allow students like de Oliveira to pay the same,
lower tuition as other Massachusetts residents attending the state's
public colleges....
State Rep. Rep. Marie St. Fleur, co-sponsor of the in-state tuition
bill, believes the state shouldn't wait for Congress to move.
"Massachusetts will be better positioned if the people within the
state are educated and skilled," said St. Fleur, a Boston Democrat.
"The question is, how do we make sure that the people here are able
to contribute to our economy when something does happen in D.C.?"
...
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimates nearly 100
undocumented students are currently in the state-college system. It
predicts the number would increase six-fold if these students were
allowed to pay in-state tuition rates.
The Lowell Sun
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Hard fight seen for immigrant tuition measure
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
How is it that whenever the voters' tax rollback
mandate of 2000 is brought up, we're told the state can't possibly
afford the $400 million or so annual loss of revenue it would "cost"?
Keeping that
promise is unfinished business put off
since 1989 -- over 17 years ago -- when the income tax rate was hiked
"temporarily" by the last Democratic governor, Michael Dukakis.
"The state's first Democratic governor in 16 years" is already picking
up where Dukakis left off, and is making up for lost time. In a
mere five months in office, Gov. Deval Patrick already has proposed
"investing" billions more of taxpayers' dollars in new and grandiose
spending schemes, on top of next fiscal year's proposed state budget of
over $27 billion.
Among his recent big-bucks boondoggle off-the-cuff
proposals: $1.4 billion for a commuter rail connection between
Boston and Fall River and New Bedford; $1 billion over 10 years for
medical research and biotechnology, and; now another $1 billion-plus for
this latest education giveaway. This is on top of $25 billion
allegedly needed quickly for repair of the state's collapsing highway
and bridges infrastructure; whatever last year's state mandatory health
insurance law ends up costing once the "experts" figure out how it's
even going to work, and; continuing escalation of the Big Dig cost.
Why is it that when critics question where Patrick
plans to come up with the billions more to pay for his wish-list of spending
boondoggles, we're cavalierly labeled "naysayers . . . doubters . . .
masquerading as pragmatists"?
"The most consistent trait of Patrick's tenure,
though, may be the governor's confidence in the correctness of his
decisions," Glen Johnson of the AP noted. That was Dukakis'
hubris, one of his greatest character flaws if you recall: he always
believed he knew what was best for us -- just ask him. That
singular arrogance remains part of his legacy, and is quickly becoming
what will be remembered of Patrick as well, as he rushes headlong into
creating his own "Massachusetts Miracle" -- big tax hikes coming.
Already there's discussions about new highway toll
booths on the state's borders, a gas tax hike, a local meals tax,
closing tax "loopholes" -- and we're only five months into this new
administration. Deval still has billions more in new revenue bucks
to go to pay for all his starry-eyed dreams, fund his expanding
hand-outs wish-list.
What about in-state tuition for illegal aliens?
Throughout his campaign for governor, Patrick supported
in-state tuition for them: "Patrick and Reilly would allow
children of illegal immigrants to qualify for the resident tuition rate
at state colleges" (Boston Globe, Sep. 14, 2006, "Heart
vs. mind," by Joan Vennochi). If the "resident tuition rate at
state colleges" drops from partially-subsidized to free-to-all -- then
the cost to illegals will become zip, zero, nothing as well.
According to the Lowell Sun report on this year's
pending in-state tuition bill -- yeah, its back for another go-around --
"The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimates nearly 100
undocumented students are currently in the state-college system. It
predicts the number would increase six-fold if these students were
allowed to pay in-state tuition rates."
If you still have any discretionary spending money left, bet it all
that enrollment of illegals will increase far more than that MTF
estimate if we
taxpayers are giving away two years of free college education.
Massachusetts will become the nation's magnet for drawing illegal
immigrants looking for a free higher education hand-out after they've squeezed the
free K-12 education system for all it's worth.
 |
|
Chip Ford |
The Boston Globe
Friday, June 1, 2007
Patrick seeks free two-year state colleges
Goal is key in 'cradle to career' plan
By Maria Sacchetti
Governor Deval Patrick plans to unveil a proposal today to make
Massachusetts' community colleges, among the priciest in the nation,
free to all high school graduates in the state by the year 2015,
according to documents obtained by the Globe.
The proposal is the centerpiece of Patrick's vision for a "cradle to
career" education system that would dramatically expand the concept of
public education in Massachusetts.
The plan, which he will outline during commencement at the University of
Massachusetts at Boston, would also provide preschool for all children,
extend the school day and year, and guarantee two years of community
college paid for by the state.
But Patrick's ambitious plan includes neither price tags nor funding
proposals as the state struggles financially. Instead, it calls for a
commission that would be charged with transforming the plan into
reality.
"We must create an integrated, comprehensive educational system that
nurtures and develops students through each critical phase of
development," says an outline of the plan obtained by the Globe. "In
today's economy, a high school diploma is not enough."
Patrick's blueprint puts the state's 15 community colleges at center
stage in a commonwealth where they are overshadowed by Harvard, MIT, and
large public universities.
But educators and governor's aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said the community colleges are key to galvanizing the state's economy,
by educating struggling workers and students to fill empty jobs. At
least 20,000 unfilled jobs in the state require a two-year degree,
according to the plan.
Educators and others praised Patrick's vision yesterday, but many
expressed skepticism about the state's ability to foot the bill, unless
it sacrificed other services or increased revenues.
Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation,
estimated Patrick's plan for the community colleges alone would cost
roughly $50 million to $75 million a year.
While the state could potentially make adjustments to cover that cost,
he said, the entire plan would cost at least $1 billion a year.
"We can't do it either without making some tough choices or raising a
broad-based tax or if we get major economic growth," said Widmer, adding
that support for raising taxes appears weak.
"It's the right kind of priority, and it's a bold statement," he said.
"But the tough decision of how to pay for it is unanswered."
School Superintendent Paul Ash of Lexington said he was worried about
new initiatives while public schools are struggling to pay for existing
services.
On Tuesday, Lexington voters will decide whether to approve a $3.98
million override for schools or face losing five of the six elementary
school librarians and 37 staff members. Regardless, riding the school
bus next year will cost $550 a student, up from $400.
"We're hemorrhaging," Ash said. "I suspect everything that he's
recommending is needed. But my worry is that we're going to start
funding new programs before we've adequately funded existing programs. .
. .
"Unless this proposal significantly increases funding for K-12 schools,
you're going to continue to have superintendents like me cutting
programs and raising fees."
Others say the state must make the investment as jobs go unfilled or are
shipped overseas to lower-paid, trained workers. They say more education
could raise personal incomes, attract industry to the state, and boost
tax revenues.
"It's bold but it's completely appropriate to be putting that on the
table," said Christopher Anderson, a Romney appointee who chairs the
Board of Education and is president of the Massachusetts High Technology
Council. "The underpinning is our state's long term economic security."
Patrick's plan would be the first major education overhaul since the
1993 Education Reform Act pumped billions of dollars into schools to
improve K-12 achievement.
Massachusetts is among the top in the nation on scores for the SAT and
other national standardized tests. But in recent years the state's test
scores have stagnated, and black, Hispanic, and low-income students lag
behind white and Asian students.
Making community colleges free would set Massachusetts apart nationally.
The American Association of Community Colleges, based in Washington,
D.C., was unaware of a state that offers a free community college
education.
"That's dramatic," said David Baime, vice president for government
relations at the association. "It's just a recognition of the need for
more participation in higher education and the central role community
colleges play in offering that access."
Delaware and New Jersey reward good students with community college
scholarships, and several governors have proposed expanding access.
In October, state higher education officials proposed giving
Massachusetts high school students two years of free tuition and fees at
community colleges if they took college preparatory classes and
qualified for nonremedial college coursework.
The state's community colleges serve roughly 200,000 students, including
students who are just taking classes and students who plan to earn a
degree. From the grassy campus of Northern Essex Community College in
Haverhill to the concrete landscapes in Boston, two-year colleges
typically serve students who struggle financially or academically. They
include immigrants learning a new language, budding nurses, and career
changers working to acquire new skills.
Community colleges are more affordable than universities, but are still
expensive for many students, averaging $3,477 a year. (The national
average is $2,272).
But it is unclear if community colleges are prepared to absorb Patrick's
vision in eight years. The campuses are often crowded, the colleges are
considered underfunded, and many colleges struggle with criticism that
some students take too long to graduate.
Aides to Patrick said the commission, called the Commission on the
Future of Public Education in the Commonwealth, will work out the
details, such as how to pay for the programs and whether to roll them
out first in high-poverty communities.
Senator Robert A. Antonioni, cochairman of the Legislature's Joint
Committee on Education, said he expected lawmakers would give Patrick's
plan a fair hearing.
"I can say that those are all ideals or goals that I could support," he
said. "One question that comes to mind is what sort of structure are you
going to have to oversee all of this and number two, how do you pay for
it?"
The Boston Globe
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Governor stirs UMass-Boston graduates
They cheer his plan for 2-year colleges
By Maria Sacchetti
University of Massachusetts at Boston graduates roared their approval
yesterday of Governor Deval Patrick's plan to open community colleges
free to all students, even as lawmakers and others criticized the
proposal because the governor never said how he would pay for it.
Patrick, beaming before a crowd of 10,000 graduates and their families
gathered beside Dorchester Bay, outlined his vision of public education
in his commencement address to graduates of the state's most diverse
public university. He called for universal preschool, full-day
kindergarten, a longer school day and year, and at least two years of
college or technical education, paid for by the state.
He dismissed concerns about funding, saying some people also had doubted
that United States could put a man on the moon or win World War II. He
said that Massachusetts must invest in education to strengthen its
economy and compete with China and other nations for business.
Though Massachusetts leads the nation on standardized tests, he said, it
lags behind for low-income and minority students, who also drop out at
higher rates. His sister, Rhonda Sigh, who earned a bachelor's degree
from UMass - Boston last year at age 50, was also at the graduation.
"Here's the point," said Patrick, dressed in the crimson robes of
Harvard, his alma mater, eyeing the 2,600 undergraduate and graduate
students. "If we don't, if we accept the status quo as the best that we
can do and the best that we can have, then God help us. . . . I ask you
to join me."
His plan -- to unfold over a decade, instead of eight years as aides
said earlier -- has potentially hefty price tags each year, including
$120 million for full-day kindergarten, $600 million for universal
preschool, $1.3 billion for a longer school day and year statewide, and
$180 million for free tuition and fees for community college students,
according to estimates from state officials and education advocates.
Lawmakers and taxpayer groups fear that Patrick is raising unrealistic
expectations. Already he has proposed spending $1 billion over 10 years
for medical research and biotechnology, without a guaranteed source of
funding, among other plans.
Citizens for Limited Taxation called the governor's plans "a
dreamer's wish list" and said they doubted lawmakers would pass his
education plans.
House minority leader Bradley H. Jones Jr., Republican of North Reading,
said the governor was promising things he cannot deliver. Cities and
towns are struggling to pass overrides, he said.
"He fails to inject a dose of reality," he said. "I'm one of those
pragmatists that he laments, but if it's so easy to do, then why . . .
aren't there any details of the costs?"
Backers of the plan suggested yesterday that the cost could be lower
once a Patrick committee examining the proposal starts sifting the
details. Patrick plans to appoint lawmakers, educators, and business and
community leaders to the group, which he calls the "readiness project."
Full-day kindergarten programs, now in 65 percent of classrooms
throughout the state, could be phased in, with districts or parents
picking up the share of the cost, according to the state Department of
Education.
Extended learning time could start only in cities and towns that want
it, which could reduce costs significantly, said Chris Gabrieli,
cofounder and chairman of Massachusetts 2020, a nonprofit educational
opportunity foundation .
Higher Education Chancellor Patricia F. Plummer praised Patrick's idea
of offering a free education to all community college students. If the
state cannot afford it, an alternative would be to pay $25 million to
$40 million in free tuition to recent high school graduates, or 10,000
of the roughly 200,000 students on the 15 campuses.
Others said they hoped the governor would try to make the plan work on a
larger scale.
President David Hartleb of Northern Essex Community College said
yesterday he hoped that all community college students could enroll for
free. Only a third of community college students are recent high school
graduates.
"The average student at Northern Essex is over 28 years old," said
Hartleb. "To say, just limit it to high school graduates, shortchanges
the majority of people who come to community colleges."
Noah Berger, executive director of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy
Center, said that closing corporate tax loopholes could be a key source
of new revenue, about half a billion dollars a year.
"We need to acknowledge that fundamentally improving education would not
be cheap," Berger said. "I think a lot of the issues he raised are
definitely good things to do."
UMass-Boston students praised Patrick's plan yesterday, saying that
rising tuition and fees make it hard for students to finish college as
early as they would like.
"It will help them," said Celestine Osuji, who immigrated from Nigeria
in 1992, and earned a bachelor's degree yesterday at age 40.
The Berkshire Eagle
Saturday, June 2, 2007
School reforms detailed
Patrick's plan to change the education system
is met with applause, skepticism
Staff and Wire Reports
In the most ambitious plan since education reforms in 1993, Gov. Deval
L. Patrick proposed yesterday to lengthen the school day by at least two
hours, to create a universal prekindergarten program, to strengthen
curriculum requirements in math and English and to launch teacher
training programs.
The capstone would be two years of free community college education for
all graduates, enacted by 2015. The state's 15 community colleges are
among the costliest in the nation but are considered critical to the
economy because at least 20,000 unfilled jobs in the state require a
two-year degree, according to the plan.
Despite his detailed vision, Patrick did not explain how he would pay
for the proposals, estimated in some quarters to cost $1 billion
annually by their completion. Instead, the governor pledged to convene a
"readiness project" to recommend improvements to the state's existing
education system and ways to pay for his proposed changes.
"Right here, right now, I commit my administration for the next 10 years
to a statewide and sustained effort to change fundamentally the way we
think about and deliver public education, to get ready for our future,"
Patrick said in commencement remarks to 1,800 undergraduate and 860
graduate students at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, who sits on the Higher
Education Committee, said that most people agree that providing
education from cradle to career is a bold and impressive suggestion.
"I think it's a great goal. I think it's great to have a governor who
recognizes our commitment to education should begin early and serve as
pipeline for our work force development efforts," he said. "Now it will
be interesting to see what, if any, financing stream he proposes."
Berkshire Community College President Paul Raverta said the plan should
be accepted for what it is — a promising vision for the future of
education.
"I think that it recognizes the important role community colleges play
in both access and opportunity for citizens of the commonwealth,"
Raverta said. "I think it's an investment in the future."
Patrick's plan:
l
Lengthen the school day by at least two hours.
l Create
a universal prekindergarten program.
l
Strengthen curriculum requirements in math and English.
l Launch
teacher training programs.
l
Provide two years of free community college education for all high
school graduates by 2015.
Critics question costs
Girding for a fight, the governor blasted away at anticipated opponents
of the proposal. He compared them with doubters who questioned whether
the colonies could break free of Britain, whether the United States
could prevail in World War II or whether the country could safely send a
man to the moon and back.
"Those voices have always represented a resistance to human progress,"
Patrick said. "Masquerading as pragmatists, they lull us into believing
that problems we made are beyond our capacity to care about and to
solve. But I remind you that the American experience and the American
character have, at critical moments in our history, been bigger than
that, and they must be again."
One critic said it was Patrick who was masquerading.
"He just keeps saying things he apparently doesn't mean. He throws out
his ideas with no way of paying for them," said Barbara Anderson
of Citizens for Limited Taxation. "He just has these wacky ideas.
He's doing his dreamer thing, his 'Together We Can.' No, we can't."
The top Republican in the House of Representatives said that the
education overhaul "fails to make the grade" because it does not include
a way to pay for it, nor does it include an estimated price tag.
"State government too often overpromises and underdelivers," said Rep.
Bradley H. Jones Jr., R-North Reading. "Unfortunately, the governor's
education proposal appears to fit right in with that record."
Patrick also has proposed a $1.4 billion commuter rail connection
between Boston and Fall River and New Bedford, hoping that costs will be
offset by new economic development along the route.
"The state has transportation needs before we start giving away higher
education," said David Tuerck, executive director of the Beacon Hill
Institute, a conservative economic think tank. "In his heart of hearts,
he thinks he can always get a tax increase to pay for his spending
plans, but I think he's wrong about that."
Patrick's education proposal also aims to expand upon the state's
existing education reform law by placing even greater emphasis on
science and mathematics and by looking for other yardsticks to measure
the success of students besides the MCAS tests.
"We have rightly focused on the need to test progress and achievement,
but there are serious and thoughtful questions we don't ask about
whether the test we use measures the skills that count," Patrick said.
The plan also calls for pumping money into a new set of regional teacher
development centers, bringing together colleges and local school
districts to focus on teacher training, teacher recruiting and teacher
development.
The goal is to increase the level of training for new and veteran
teachers, especially in math and sciences.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this story. The
Eagle's Hillary Chabot contributed to this report.
The Associated Press
Friday, June 1, 2007
Confidence and a dearth of details
hallmarks of Patrick's tenure
By Glen Johnson, AP Political Writer
Five months after taking office, and with several controversies behind
him, Gov. Deval Patrick has settled into his governing routine.
He is secretive about his developing proposals to the point of dashing
away from inquiring reporters. He relishes getting outside the
Statehouse, escaping Boston and drawing attention to the other 350
cities and towns in Massachusetts. And if it's Friday, count on an
announcement or appearance in western Massachusetts -- most usually on a
road leading to his Berkshires vacation home.
The state's first Democratic governor in 16 years is asserting himself,
in ways big and small, even if he can't fully answer all the questions
he is raising in the process.
There has been the dramatic proposal to create a commuter rail
connection between Boston and Fall River and New Bedford. The only
answer for paying the $1.4 billion cost is the hope the plan will
attract enough economic development that new tax revenues will offset
the expense.
This week there was the equally dramatic proposal to provide free
diapers-to-dormitory public education, expanding early childhood
learning programs while also revamping higher education with the pledge
of a free two-year community college degree to all high school
graduates.
How to pay for that proposal, estimated at up to $1 billion annually,
will fall to a blue-ribbon "readiness project" being convened by the
governor.
There's also been the headline-grabbing plan to spend $1 billion over 10
years to retain the state's prominence as a stem cell and life sciences
capital. For that, Patrick offered a payment plan: half through bonding
and half through the state's general fund, which he says currently has a
$1.3 billion deficit.
When pressed about whether he is overextending the state credit card,
Patrick has replied with cool confidence.
"No, no, no. It's my job to make sure we can afford it," he said
recently.
One hallmark of Patrick's tenure has been his willingness to empower his
staff -- even as he maintains tight control on the administration's
reins.
Amid questions about the state Department of Social Services, Patrick
refused to say if its commissioner, Harry Spence, should be sacked.
Instead, he said that was the decision of his human services secretary,
Dr. JudyAnn Bigby.
Several weeks later, Bigby announced Spence was being replaced as part
of a widespread government shake-up designed to put Democrats and
Patrick supporters in key administration posts.
"This is not about anyone's failure," the governor said. "It's about
building our own team."
The most consistent trait of Patrick's tenure, though, may be the
governor's confidence in the correctness of his decisions.
He still has yet to detail tax incentives that will be a component of
his life sciences initiative, but Patrick was quick to shoot down to
Canton on Thursday to celebrate the expansion of Organogenesis Inc., a
bioengineering firm that credited the initiative with its decision to
stay in Massachusetts.
"I think they feel like the climate is right for life sciences and
that's exactly what we want Organogenesis and other companies to feel,"
the governor said.
On Friday, Patrick took on critics of his education overhaul barely a
minute after he unveiled it at the UMass-Boston graduation ceremony.
"There will be those, there always are, who say we can't afford this,
that this is too ambitious, that the interests involved are too
entrenched, perhaps that this is just too h-a-a-a-rd," the governor
said, stretching the final word in a belittling manner.
"Those are the same voices who said that President Kennedy's call to put
a man on the moon in less than a decade was a folly, who said the United
States could never win the Second World War, who said that America would
never free her slaves, who said the colonies could never be independent
of Britain, that America herself could never be born."
Patrick's rejoinder? He reprised a theme from his gubernatorial campaign
last year.
The governor said such doubters "masquerade" as pragmatists.
Glen Johnson has covered local, state and national politics since
1985.
The MetroWest Daily News
Saturday, June 2, 2007
A MetroWest Daily News editorial
The next debate over education
First, figure out what you want. Then, find a way to pay for it.
That is emerging as part of Gov. Deval Patrick's governing style, and
his critics are already picking up on it. Minutes after he outlined an
expansive and ambitious vision of education reform at a UMass Boston
commencement Friday, his critics were denouncing it as too expensive and
demanding he tell us where the money would come from.
That question will obviously have to be answered at some point, but
there are reasons Patrick chose to lead with the ideas, not the price
tag. Too many of our education debates are focused on money instead of
education. Too many great educators confuse their mission with their
budgets once they move into the superintendent's office. You can always
find a way to spend more money; the challenge is figuring out what to
spend it on.
The second reason why it makes sense to lead with ideas is that the
alternative brings policy paralysis. There are some strong voices in
Massachusetts -- Barbara Anderson, legislative leaders of both
parties and the talk show crowd -- whose political vision begins and
ends with keeping taxes down. They begrudge even the status quo if it
requires new revenue. They have no ideas and they want to hear no ideas
that don't involve tax cuts.
Deval Patrick didn't run for governor to do nothing but engage in a
constant struggle to maintain current programs. He campaigned on a
pledge to launch a new wave of education reform, and Friday he began to
define that vision. He called for a longer school day for every student,
a universal pre-school program, new curriculum requirements in math and
English and new teacher training programs. He vowed to make community
colleges an engine for economic development as well as educational
attainment.
The ideas deserve serious debate, and that discussion need not be
short-circuited by the knee-jerk reaction that the state cannot afford
it. "Masquerading as pragmatists," Patrick said, critics "lull us into
believing that problems we made are beyond our capacity to care about
and to solve."
Yes, new programs will come at a price, perhaps more than we can afford.
Choices will eventually have to be made. But letting limited resources
limit our imaginations would be a failure of leadership. Let the next
education reform debate begin.
The Boston Herald
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Gov’s plans on education face exams:
Critics question costs
By Casey Ross
While applauding Gov. Deval Patrick for tackling education reform,
lawmakers and economists warned yesterday that his plan could top $1
billion a year and erode the state’s emphasis on rigorous testing to
spur student achievement.
“Whenever you hear someone say that education is about the ‘whole
child,’ that’s code for backing away from high-stakes testing,” said
Douglas Sears, former dean of Boston University’s School of Education.
“I hope we’re not going there. Testing has forced us to focus on the
quality of what we’re doing.”
Repeating a frequent campaign comment, Patrick made the “whole child”
reference during a speech yesterday in which he outlined a 10-year plan
for reforming the state’s public education system.
The plan includes high-cost goals of free tuition at community colleges,
universal pre-school programs, full-day kindergarten and extending the
school day and school year.
“If we join together, we can have consistent excellence in every public
school,” Patrick said during a commencement address at the Univerity of
Massachusetts at Boston. “If we accept the status quo as the best that
we can do . . . then God help us.”
Patrick did not discuss the state’s MCAS testing requirements in detail,
but he indicated that the standards must change. The governor said the
state has “rightly” focused on testing, but should re-examine whether
MCAS adequately recognizes broader categories of student achievement.
“Being ready means public education that is about the whole child, not
just set on a single standardized test,” he said. “It’s about education
that fosters creativity of every sort.”
Lawmakers and education experts lauded the governor’s boldness, but some
derided the speech as a huge serving of inspirational platitudes,
without staking out any sense of how the state will implement or pay for
his reforms.
“I question whether he is setting us up for over-promising and
under-delivering,” said House Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North
Reading). “These lofty goals are all well and good, but there’s a
reality to face here, which is how are you going to pay for it.”
Michael Widmer, director of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said
funding Patrick’s initiatives will easily cost more than $1 billion a
year, a cost that would have to be borne by broad-based tax increases or
a sudden windfall of economic growth.
Patrick said yesterday his plan is only meant to be a starting point,
and that a special commission of educators, business leaders and
lawmakers will begin to iron out details of policy and financing. He
took sharp aim at his critics even before he finished his speech,
painting them as naysayers aiming to stifle progress.
The Lowell Sun
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Hard fight seen for immigrant tuition measure
By Kate Plourd, Special to The Sun
Patricia de Oliveira came to this country when she was 6 years old,
brought by her parents from Brazil.
She graduated from the Cambridge public schools in 2002, and has gone on
to study business part time at Bunker Hill Community College.
Each semester she squeezes a class or two into her budget, unable to
afford full-time college because of the out-of-state tuition rates she
must pay because she lacks legal residency.
The story is a familiar one for families throughout Greater Lowell,
where thousands of immigrant families lack the proper documentation to
become legal citizens, despite some living, working and paying taxes in
Massachusetts for years.
A bill pending before the state Legislature, however, would allow
students like de Oliveira to pay the same, lower tuition as other
Massachusetts residents attending the state's public colleges.
"This is the kind of thing that will help kids who are excellent
students, who aspire to go college, who are not responsible for the way
they are in this country, and who deserve to have this kind of a
chance," said Victoria Fahlberg, director of ONE Lowell, a nonprofit
immigrant-advocacy group. "It's really important. To not pass this bill,
it's a way people are using children to punish parents for a decision
that they made."
Fahlberg said the measure would affect every immigrant group in the
city, from the burgeoning Brazilian community to the more established
Southeast Asians. She estimated there are hundreds of thousands of
immigrants in Massachusetts who even have valid Social Security numbers
but lack their "Green Card" because the process can take so long.
The bill faces an uphill climb, however, after being soundly defeated by
the Legislature last year. State Rep. Kevin Murphy, a Lowell Democrat
and chairman of the House Committee on Higher Education, predicted a
similar fate for the proposal this year.
For Murphy, the issue is cut and dry.
"I'm opposed to it. I don't think that illegal immigrants should be
getting benefits that legal Americans are not getting," Murphy said.
"They can still go to college. They just have to pay the same tuition as
a kid from Nashua, New Hampshire. It costs enough for legal kids to go
(to college). We should be helping them out."
The in-state tuition bill would give an estimated 600 immigrant students
an education at prices equal to other state residents.
But it also begs another question.
What happens to all the students who must wait for immigration reform by
Congress before they can get a legal job?
Raymond Rico, a fellow at the National Immigration Law Center, said
in-state tuition legislation passed by eight other states doesn't change
an immigrant's working status.
"No in-state tuition bill has that power," Rico said. "Only at the
federal level can immigration status be changed because it's a federal
issue."
That issue took a step forward earlier this month when the U.S. Senate
reached a compromise on a bill that would allow illegal immigrants now
in this country to work for a minimum of eight years.
Under the plan, they would have to pay $5,000. They could apply for
citizenship, but it would not be guaranteed.
State Rep. Rep. Marie St. Fleur, co-sponsor of the in-state tuition
bill, believes the state shouldn't wait for Congress to move.
"Massachusetts will be better positioned if the people within the state
are educated and skilled," said St. Fleur, a Boston Democrat. "The
question is, how do we make sure that the people here are able to
contribute to our economy when something does happen in D.C.?"
According to a report released last month by the Massachusetts Board of
Higher Education, indicators suggest the state could benefit
economically by extending in-state tuition.
According to the board, an estimated 85 percent of graduates remain in
Massachusetts after completing college. Those students earn higher
incomes and pay more in state taxes than those who don't attend college.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation estimates nearly 100 undocumented
students are currently in the state-college system. It predicts the
number would increase six-fold if these students were allowed to pay
in-state tuition rates.
But opponents say the uncertainty about these students' job status is
another reason the tuition legislation is wrong.
Steve Kropper, chairman of the Massachusetts Coalition on Immigration
Reform, said spending education resources on people who can't be
guaranteed the ability to contribute to the economy is unfair to
out-of-state students.
"The notion that that person would be favored over a person in New
Hampshire seems ludicrous to us," Kropper said. "And the notion that we
would subsidize someone from another country seems unreasonable. We
don't think tuition subsidies make sense in terms of people who aren't
subject to taxation or joining the work force."
Before this month's U.S. Senate compromise, the best hope for immigrant
students was the proposed Development, Relief and Education for Alien
Minors Act, also called the Dream Act.
The law would grant six years of temporary residency to children brought
to the United States more than five years ago, at the age of 15 years
old or younger. They must have completed high school in the United
States and have no criminal record.
At the end of the six years, students would be granted permanent legal
residency if they graduate from a two-year college, complete two years
toward a four-year degree or serve two years in the military.
And there are other routes for students to work legally.
Eva Millona, policy director for the Massachusetts Immigrant Refugee
Association, said some undocumented students fall under a range of 20
immigration statuses, many that allow them to legally work.
However, the 65,000 employer-sponsored visas permitted each year by the
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services are nowhere near the
demand from U.S. businesses. The center received so many applications
for fiscal 2008 that they closed the application pool after two days.
Millona said many employers only sponsor high-tech and engineering jobs
that are unfilled because there are no Americans qualified for the
positions.
Students like de Oliveira, who will continue to go to school despite the
outcome at both the state and federal level, hope lawmakers act soon.
"Our thinking is it is better to get the degree now and have it so then
when reform does happen, rather than wait for reform to happen and then
not have a degree." she said.
Kate Plourd writes for the Boston University Statehouse Program.
Staff writer Matt Murphy contributed to this report.
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