Citizens for Public Schools (CPS) believes the compromise reached by the Massachusetts Teachers Association and corporate-funded Stand for Children would avoid the worst aspects of Stand’s proposed ballot question, which was a deceptive and destructive proposal that failed to address real obstacles to educational quality and equity.
The compromise was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick today, June 29. In exchange, Stand said it would drop the ballot measure it proposed to put on the November ballot.
“Stand for Children has become a vehicle for a few billionaires who want to control how we run our public schools,” said CPS President Ann O’Halloran, who was the 2007 Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year. “I’m relieved that Stand was blocked from achieving its full agenda, but CPS and our allies must be prepared to resist similar efforts down the road. We need to raise awareness of this as a national problem, not just a Massachusetts issue.”
Although Stand claimed its ballot proposal would ensure that “every child no matter their ZIP code, has access to great teachers and a quality education,” it would actually do the opposite, driving teachers away from schools that serve the neediest students — for fear of losing their jobs. The compromise will not improve education for urban students because it does nothing to address the challenges they and their teachers face. But it will reduce the damage that the original Stand proposal would have caused by removing some of its most destructive features. To read more, click here.
