Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick says closing what he calls the achievement gap in education is a top priority in his second term. New England Public Radio's Kari Njiiri reports the governor outlined his agenda to close that gap today (Wednesday) at an education summit at UMass-Boston.

Governor Patrick says despite improved MCAS scores among low-income, African-American, Latino and English language learners, persistent achievement gaps continue, especially in so-called gateway cities where they mostly live. Among the goals in the Governor's education agenda; Getting every child to read proficiently by the third grade by creating a Kindergarten Readiness Literacy pilot program for those gateway cities like Springfield, Holyoke and Pittsfield. State Education Secretary Paul Reville says three-quarters of children who struggle with reading by that grade will continue to struggle academically, greatly reducing their chances of graduating from high school, going to college or participating in the state's high skill economy.
“We've got to start earlier. Literacy development begins before school, (it) begins before kindergarten as we get children ready to learn to read.”
The Governor's plan also calls for creating summer camps for English language learners to give them more time to acquire language competency. Springfield School Superintendent Alan Ingram says such a program is essential for districts like his.
“About 23 % of our kids speak English as a second language, and that's out of 26,000 students. And about 13 % of our kids have limited English proficiency. And so to be able to provide summer programming with educational components that would not just be limited to the maintenance of their education, but how do we help them accelerate their command of the English language, is absolutely critical."
Administration officials say they are still working out the costs associated with the Governor's plans, which they say will be in a budget he intends to file in January.