Demonstrate Achievement without MCAS
S.293, An Act expanding opportunities to demonstrate academic achievement

The high-stakes MCAS test required for graduation in Massachusetts offers little benefit for students but instead lays bare and perpetuates the inequities in our education system. Teaching to the test narrows the curriculum and hinders students from developing advanced thinking and problem-solving skills. COVID has further disrupted learning, making the test a wholly inappropriate requirement for graduation. My bill (S.293, An Act expanding opportunities to demonstrate academic achievement) directs the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to permit students to demonstrate competency required to graduate high school without passing a standardized test like MCAS, and sets up demonstration programs to explore new ways to assess school performance.

No MCAS Test this School Year
S.297, An Act responding to the COVID-19 emergency by instituting a moratorium on the administration of the MCAS test for the 2020-2021 school year

The response to the COVID pandemic has disrupted education at all levels.Teachers and families have struggled with technology and students have missed weeks and weeks of instruction. These disruptions have hit particularly hard in vulnerable communities, which face inequitable challenges with standardized testing even in normal years. The state has waived the MCAS graduation requirements this year, as it did last year, and my bill (S.297, An Act responding to the COVID-19 emergency by instituting a moratorium on the administration of the MCAS test for the 2020-2021 school year) would direct the state to seek a federal waiver to allow the MCAS test to not be administered at all for this school year.

Fund Special Education
S.295, An Act establishing a Special Education Funding Reform Commission

The state’s formula for providing funding to school districts for special education costs relies upon an assumption that often does not come close to meeting the actual costs. Our children with disabilities suffer from inadequate resources due to this funding formula that shortchanges our school districts. My bill (S.295, An Act establishing a Special Education Funding Reform Commission) sets up a Commission to review the Commonwealth’s system for funding special education and make recommendations for a more equitable system that will provide adequate funding to local school districts to meet the costs of providing high quality education to students with disabilities.

Reinvest in Higher Education
S.824, An Act committing to higher education the resources to insure a strong and healthy public higher education system

The Commonwealth has not been making major investments in higher education to lower the cost of college. Funding for higher education has not even kept up with inflation. Our public university and college institutions have had to subsist on fewer resources year after year, enduring a 31% state cut in per pupil funding since FY2001. My bill (S.824, An Act committing to higher education the resources to insure a strong and healthy public higher education system – known as the CHERISH Act) would increase state funding for higher education to the inflation-adjusted per pupil level it was in 2001 to address skyrocketing tuition, the student debt crisis, and more.

Equity in School Building Assistance
S.296, An Act promoting equity in school building assistance and ensuring best practice incentives are available for all school building projects

An arbitrary cap built into the formula for state school building assistance hurts our local school districts, and there is no requirement that equity be taken into account in distributing funding. As a result, many low-income and rural areas of the state cannot take advantage of additional assistance provided for school building projects that adhere to best practices. My bill (S.296, An Act promoting equity in school building assistance and ensuring best practice incentives are available for all school building projects) will require the school building assistance formula to consider equity and ensure that all local projects can take advantage of best practice school building incentives.

Expand Access to Affordable Higher Education
S.825, An Act improving access to affordable higher education

Massachusetts has over 30 separate higher education financial aid programs. These overlapping programs are confusing to students and complicated to administer. Students may decide it is too confusing or too challenging to navigate both the financial aid process and the application process, presenting a barrier to accessing higher education. My bill (S.825, An Act improving access to affordable higher education) directs the Department of Higher Education to propose improvements to our fragmented and overlapping higher education assistance programs and to streamline the college application process, including automatic admission to community college for high school graduates.

Reduce Youth Suicide
S.1266, An Act supporting student mental health

The state’s 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 15 percent of students across grades 6 through 12 seriously considered suicide during the previous year, with 12 percent making a plan and 7 percent attempting suicide. My bill (S.1266, An Act supporting student mental health) directs that newly printed ID cards for public schools in grades 7-12 and higher education include the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline phone number, the Crisis Text Line number, and the local campus security or non-emergency number.

Recognize Dinosaur History
S.2028, An Act establishing the official dinosaur of the commonwealth

My bill (S.2028, An Act establishing the official dinosaur of the commonwealth) declares the Podokesaurus holyokensis, a dinosaur whose fossils were first found in western Massachusetts, as the official dinosaur of Massachusetts. Its fossils were discovered near Mount Holyoke in 1910 by Mignon Talbot, the first woman to name and describe a dinosaur. Understanding how a bill goes through the legislative process is important but can be complex, this bill will allow our young people to connect with the legislative process in an unforgettable way.