Democrat Michael Day is the State Representative for the 31st Middlesex District, representing the towns of Stoneham and Winchester. The sixth of seven children, Michael was born in Winchester Hospital and now lives in Stoneham with his wife Megan and their three sons, Conor, Ryan and Finnegan. The Days are active members of their community, where Michael has coached for Stoneham Youth Hockey more than a decade and Megan currently serves as Executive Director of the Stoneham Chamber of Commerce. Michael is from here, and he chose to raise his family here because he understands that the people making up our communities are what make our towns so special.
Education Funding
My top priority is to reform the outdated and inequitable state education funding formula (Chapter 70) so students in every community receive their fair share of education aid. Both Stoneham and Winchester have taken great strides towards updating our schools with a new Middle School in Stoneham and a new High School in Winchester. We should not be burdened with the additional task of making up for education budgetary deficiencies because of a funding formula that has remained fundamentally unchanged since 1993.
I will build on the work started by Senator Jason Lewis and others who helped to secure funding for the Chapter 70 Education Foundation Budget Review Commission so that Stoneham and Winchester receive adequate funding levels. Together, we will also work to ensure that the state actually meets its existing commitment to provide a minimum level of state funding to public education, which will increase funding levels for our district.
Improving our Schools
As an alumnus of UMass Amherst and a father of three, I understand the importance of quality public education. From pre-K classes through college and continuing adult education programs, our public schools are the foundation upon which Massachusetts was built. I will advocate for universal pre-K for all children and fight to ensure that every citizen has access to higher education and adult continuing education opportunities across the state.
The MCAS is a one-size-fits-all standardized test that fails to tell us whether our schools are adequately educating our children. We can do better. Our teachers must have the opportunity to teach and innovate in the classroom. I will fight to allow teachers more freedom to adapt to their students’ needs and do what they do best – encourage and guide our children so they learn the value of hard work and the importance of social justice.