Go-ahead for North possible; Romney initiatives help Central Mass.
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Clive McFarlane
January 17, 2004
The construction of a replacement North High School would be one of the immediate benefits for the Worcester public schools under Gov. Mitt Romney's new education initiatives.
The city, four other Central Massachusetts communities -- Fitchburg, Southbridge, Webster, Winchendon -- as well as Assabet Valley Regional Vocational School District in Marlboro and the Seven Hills Charter School in Worcester would benefit from Mr. Romney's proposal to provide $34 million in targeted assistance to 42 districts in the state with the lowest MCAS scores.
The school building construction and targeted assistance proposals are part of the governor's ''Legacy of Learning'' education initiatives, which he unveiled Thursday night in his State of the State address.
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Currently, there is a statewide moratorium on funding new school-building projects.
There are 748 projects now receiving payments and an additional 420 schools on a waiting list. It would cost about $11 billion to finish paying for the projects on both lists.
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Without a significant increase in Chapter 70 funding, Worcester could find itself in the same position it was in last year, when school officials had to close four schools, Mr. Caradonio said.
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The governor's proposed $32 million in supplemental funding would be used to offer full-day kindergarten; train, recruit and retain math and science teachers; fund disciplinary programs and MCAS tutorial programs; provide mandatory parent preparation classes; and give technical and management assistance to under-performing school districts.
Mr. Romney also earmarked $50 million over four years to provide tuition-free enrollment at any of the state's postsecondary institutions for students who score in the top 25 percent of their class on the MCAS tests.
S. Paul Reville, executive director of the Center for Education Research and Policy at the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth, said expediting the school-building construction schedule and offering full-day kindergarten will be enormously helpful to districts.
He cautioned, however, that other initiatives, such as the full-tuition scholarships and the mandatory parental classes, would need to be scrutinized closely.
''In principle, I like the idea to create some positive incentives in the MCAS program, but at the same time you have to be careful that you are not creating a system of rewards that primarily serves a select group,'' he said.
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