Citizens for Public Schools

I was thrilled to join students, parents, educators and civil rights leaders to officially launch the campaign to #FundOurFuture on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at the Massachusetts State House. 

CPS is part of a new and growing coalition with a simple, clear message: It’s time for Governor Baker and the legislature to make it their top priority to reinvest $1.5 billion a year in public education, from pre-K through higher education. We expect this coalition to expand; founding members include American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, Boston Teachers Union, Citizens for Public Schools, FairTest, Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance, Massachusetts Jobs With Justice, Massachusetts Teachers Association, NAACP New England Area Conference, and PHENOM (Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts).

As I told Masslive, “We’re basically just calling on legislators to keep their promise to cherish our public schools and fund them adequately.”

Click here to read summaries of the two Fund Our Future-backed bills, one for K-12 and the other for higher education.   → Read More

The next governor of Massachusetts will have great influence on the health and well being of our public schools through choices on funding, privatization, assessment and accountability. He will also influence K-12 policy through appointments to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

He will also make appointments to the Supreme Judicial Court. The court’s ruling that the state’s system of funding schools was unconstitutional forced a major increase in state aid for low-income communities in 1993. A very different court this year kept the “millionaire’s tax” off the ballot.

Do you know where the two candidates stand on education? CPS considers it an important part of our mission to educate the public about public education, so we devote this edition of “News You Can Use About Our Schools” to summarizing the two candidates’ positions on three aspects of public education. (Note: CPS does not endorse candidates for public office.)   → Read More

Check out these nifty t-shirts created by a Somerville parent. (Email lesstestingmorelearning@gmail.com if you’re interested in one and we can connect you.)   → Read More