New England Public Radio

The Week Ahead On Beacon Hill

Legislative leaders and Governor Charlie Baker do not appear too concerned by their lack of progress on major bills as they head towards a seven-week recess period running through Thanksgiving, Christmas and into the new year.  On issue after issue – from energy to opioids to public records and transportation services regulation – Baker and Democratic legislative leaders say they’re working together and are confident that their work will eventually lead to results.  So they’re treating Wednesday’s end of formal sessions for 2015 – a deadline written into legislative rules – for what it is, a temporary suspension of major activity until January when they can pick up where they left off, presumably after making some inroads during the recess.

A burst of activity in the branches is likely early this week, with the House planning to finally take up public records and solar energy bills that have long been in the works, and the Senate poised to consider social media privacy and both physical and sexual education bills.  But with the possible exception of some bills affecting veterans it’s possible that lawmakers won’t finish work on any major bills.

Click on the audio link above to hear a conversation between State House News Service reporter Matt Murphy and NEPR’s Henry Epp. 

The Week Ahead On Beacon Hill

In addition to producing a senator-elect, the week ahead may lead to a potential new wave of special legislative elections and will bring recommendations for K-12 public education financing and a major new effort to get residents signed up for health insurance.  Meantime, the Legislature limps into November, with just over two weeks before their next extended recess, without much to show as far as accomplishments this fall. Lawmakers have talked about the need to address opioid addiction, transgender rights, energy solutions, transportation services regulation, and public records reform but made little progress, and it appears completed laws on some if not all of those topics may have to wait until 2016. Aside from work on those major issues, House members have also been reluctant to take up many of the bills, including those concerning local affairs, that have won committee approvals and made it onto the session calendar. While the Senate regularly takes up each bill on its calendar, the House routinely skips past scores of bills that are ready for consideration by that body.

The major bills that have made it through the chambers and won Governor Charlie Baker’s signature this session have primarily dealt with transportation reform and the state budget, including a budget rebalancing bill and a bill spending surplus funds and shoring up fiscal 2015 accounts that were underfunded. The House and Senate have until November 18th to see if they can rally momentum behind any other major proposals, mindful that bills carry over in their current position from the first to second year of the session, which starts in January and features formal sessions through July.  The Senate has approved a bill aimed at preventing opioid abuse and attached a solar power bill to climate change adaptation legislation.  The House this week floated ideas for its own solar energy bill, which differs significantly from the Senate-approved proposal.

Click on the audio link above to hear a conversation between State House News Service reporter Matt Murphy and NEPR’s Henry Epp. 

Finding Evidence of Tampering, Mass. Invalidates Test Scores At A Springfield Elementary School

Some Springfield parents learned this week that the state invalidated three years of their kids’ elementary school test results. This comes after an investigation that found test booklets were tampered with to improve scores.

In October of last year, a Springfield TV station reported on what it called “extraordinary” test scores at Dryden School, which the principal at the time called “unbelievable.”

They were tops or near tops in Massachusetts. Dryden’s test scores caught the attention of Massachusetts officials, who found large increases in student achievement from one year to the next.

In a letter to Springfield Superintendent Daniel Warwick in June, Massachusetts education commissioner Mitchell Chester said the state found evidence of tampering, including that Dryden test booklets contained “widespread” eraser marks, with incorrect answers changed to correct ones. Chester said there’s no evidence students cheated, and called the investigation “ongoing.”

In a statement, Superintendent Warwick says he has “little information” about that investigation. But he says he’s “always concerned with ensuring [the district’s] strict testing protocols are observed.”

According to the state, this is the ninth time since 2002 that it’s invalidated test scores.

MCAS Bill Languishes

The sponsor of a bill that would allow Massachusetts students to graduate from high school even if they don’t pass the MCAS test, says the measure is now sitting in a legislative committee and will likely remain there until Governor Deval Patrick takes a position on it. WFCR’s Kevin Mcnicholas reports.

Revisiting the Purpose of MCAS

The Massachusetts legislature’s Education Committee heard testimony Tuesday from a number of people who oppose the requirement that high school students pass the MCAS test in order to graduate. Among the critics who spoke was Martin Kaplan. He chaired the state board of education in the 1990s.

The committee endorsed legislation that would de-emphasize MCAS as a graduation requirement and charge a new commission with developing a more broad-based way of measuring student achievement.