Massachusetts has one of the most educated populations in the nation, with about 37% of residents 25 and older holding a Bachelor’s degree or higher—the highest rate among states in the nation—or 4 million college-educated residents.  An additional 20% of residents have had “some college”—which includes Associate’s degrees and certificates issued at community college.

While educational attainment is increasingly important to Greater Boston’s competitive, knowledge economy, and while Metro Boston ranks 6^th in the nation in educational attainment, Boston and the region are slipping as other cities and states—and other nations—increase their investment in education. Higher education attainment rates in those age 25 and higher rose in Boston from 10% in 1970 to almost 37% in 2004, reflecting in part the retention of local college graduates (See Indicator 4.1.1).  In addition, an increasing number of Boston Public School graduates seek additional educational opportunities, rising from 36% in 1970, to 70% of the BPS class of 2005, according to a  Boston Private Industry Council survey, which reported that they were enrolled in either college or a training program in the year following graduation. While Massachusetts continues to rank highest among states in educational attainment, Metro Boston now ranks 5th and Boston ranks 13th among large cities (See Indicator 4.2.2). 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has committed major public resources to K-12 Education Reform, more than doubling annual state spending from $1.3 billion in 1993 to nearly $3.7 billion in 2005.  Between FY02 and FY04, however, state spending was cut in response to a recession, and only now is state funding approaching earlier levels. The Commonwealth and its school districts have enjoyed tremendous overall student achievement but racial/ethnic disparities persist, and global competition in upping the ante.

Education Reform has been expensive—and continues to be.  Since enacting sweeping education reform legislation in 1993, Massachusetts has invested heavily in K-12 reform. Even while assuming more of the funding burden, the Commonwealth still relies heavily on local municipalities to fund education. In fact, according to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, in FY04 local governments contributed 53.6% of the revenue for public education; across the country, local governments—on average—were responsible for 43.9%. In that same year, Massachusetts was ranked 41^st in terms of state share of K-12 spending paid for by the state government.  Changes made to the state funding formula in FY07 were meant to address these and other inequities. Reform to the funding formula is likely to continue in years to come.

Following a decade of education reform as well as stable leadership in the Boston Public Schools, Boston is considered by educational experts to be a leader among large urban school districts in making system-wide progress.  Boston contains a high number of innovative Pilot and Charter schools and is also at the forefront of large urban school districts, particularly in its citywide implementation of classroom-based professional development for teachers (known as “Collaborative Coaching & Learning” in Boston), and in the high school restructuring movement, which has created small learning communities and new small high schools with specialized curricula across the city. As of 2005, 25 of Boston’s 34 high schools enrolled fewer than 500 students.

EARLY EDUCATION AND CARE

Despite setbacks, a growing understanding of the critical importance of the earliest years of a child’s life experiences is translating into city and state educational policy. A growing body of research confirms what parents have known intuitively: the brain develops more rapidly between birth and age 5 than at any other period.

K – 12

Boston’s public school system has entered an era of ferment: 

• After 11 years of stable leadership, Superintendent Tom Payzant retired, creating a time of leadership transition.  When Mr. Payzant retired, he left a district substantially better for children and teachers than the district he joined in 1995.  During his tenure, BPS focused sharply on improving teaching and learning system wide.  For the 2006-2007 school year, former Chief Operating Officer Michael Contompasis took over as Interim Superintendent, and ably continued to lead district reform efforts.  The BPS unsuccessfully sought Superintendent Manuel Rivera, former Superintendent of Schools in Rochester, New York for Boston’s next Superintendent, which has prolonged the transition period.  Following Dr. Rivera’s abrupt withdrawal, a small team of community leaders was convened to identify a new superintendent.  Cleve Killingsworth, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and the Rev. Dr. Gregory G. Groover, Sr., a member of the Boston School Committee, Pastor of the Historic Charles Street AME Church in Roxbury, and a Boston Public School parent, have led the community-based team.
• A high rate of teacher turnover has brought renewed attention to educator quality, retention and training—creating a focus on human resources and leading to a settled teachers’ contract.  In 2004, Boston hired 330 new teachers; in 2006 that number rose to 500 new teachers.  Recognizing this, and understanding that educator quality is the most important school-based variable that impacts student learning, in 2005 Boston embarked on an effort to reinvent its human resources and hiring processes. Like other urban districts, however, Boston continues to lose large numbers of its new teachers after just three years.   After lengthy negotiations, a teacher’s contract through 2010 has emerged that generously compensates teachers while providing for bold school restructuring.  In early 2007 District leadership and the Boston Teachers Union settled the teachers’ contract, which provided for up to seven new Pilot Schools, which enjoy greater flexibility and autonomy than traditional district schools. In 2007, there were 20 Pilot Schools.

 Boston and Massachusetts are learning—and applying—new lessons that work.

• School structure matters.  The way in which schools are organized and run has begun to receive greater attention, in Boston and beyond.  There are presently 20 Pilot Schools in Boston—with nearly all of them outperforming their traditional counterparts across a range of measures (including graduation rates and MCAS scores).  In 2006, Board of Education Chairman Chris Anderson brought state attention to Pilots as a promising reform, when he worked with the Massachusetts Department of Education, Boston Public Schools, Springfield Public Schools, and Fitchburg Public Schools to create a Pilot-like turnaround model for four schools that might otherwise have been declared “chronically underperforming,” a move that could prompt a state takeover of the schools.  Both the senate and the house budget for FY08 include one million dollars to support this work, and the first four turnaround Pilots (Commonwealth Pilots) are scheduled to open in September of 2007.

A number of districts outside of Boston are considering following Boston’s lead and creating Pilot Schools.  Fitchburg was the first district outside of BPS to include Pilot School language in its contract.

Students can get lost in “transition.”  Too often, when students change schools they experience problems caused by the transition—from elementary to middle school, middle to high school, and high school to college.  In response to this “leaky pipeline” the district has doubled the number of K-8 schools since 2002, and plans to open four more in the fall or 2007. The district has also formed a Middle Grades Task Force to identify ways to strengthen student performance during this critical age.

During the FY06 and FY07 budget process, state policymakers unsuccessfully advocated for funding “dual enrollment” programs that ease the transition to college, and allow students to earn credit that can help to make college more affordable.  Meanwhile, Boston students can access dual enrollment programs at Emmanuel College, UMASS Boston, Bunker Hill community college, Berklee College of Music and the Benjamin Franklin Institute.

Dropping out heavily affects future life opportunities.  Each year, more than 11,000 students in Massachusetts leave school without a high school diploma.  In the case of Latino boys, the state has one of the worst dropout rates in the nation—demonstrating that the state’s neediest students may not be enjoying the results of education reform.  In 2004, more than 1,500 students dropped out of Boston Public Schools alone; that figure has grown slightly since then, as a steady stream of students leaves BPS. Yet, the consequences of dropping of out high school are more dire than ever.  Today, a male dropout in Massachusetts can expect to earn less over the course of his lifetime than a male who dropped out in 1979.  A 2007 report by the Center for Labor Market Studies revealed that dropouts in Massachusetts not only make less money over a lifetime, they also suffer from poorer health than high school and college graduates, are less likely to marry (increasing the likelihood of living in poverty), and will have a shorter life expectancy than their better educated peers.

In Boston, and across Massachusetts, student performance on MCAS is improving but this can be a double-edged sword.  Many educators worry about the effects of narrowing the curriculum to focus on English and math to the exclusion of other subjects.  In 2006, 51% of BPS students scored Proficient or Advanced in English Language Arts, a 28% increase over the 2005 results.  In math, 53% scored Proficient or Advanced, up from 39% in 2005. However, the arts, phys ed, language studies and other broader school offerings have suffered.

• For the first time in 2006 Boston’s 10^th grade MCAS scores showed a narrowing of the racial achievement gap.  However, the gap in math between students with disabilities and all students in the state widened at all grade levels. According to the Center for Education Progress, between 2002 and 2006, the gaps between African American and white students and Hispanic and white students narrowed in English language arts at all grade levels analyzed.  The trend shows a slowing of achievement gains over time.
• There is widespread concern—in Boston and across the country—that an unintended consequence of the federal No Child Left Behind Act has been a narrowing of the curriculum.  Governor Patrick has indicated that his education reform package may include a review of MCAS, and an expansion that will broaden the assessment beyond the annual test, to include other measures of student performance.  roponents believe this will allow for a more genuine assessment of performance, while opponents see this as a retreat from the high standards established in the 1993 Education Reform act.

OUT-OF AND AFTER-SCHOOL TIME

• Growing awareness that programming is needed for older teens.  The Black Ministerial Alliance has convened large numbers of providers to form a network of support for programs serving teens, a traditionally underserved group.
• A new focus on high-risk youth.  In 2005 the Boston Youth Transitions Task Force released a groundbreaking report describing Boston’s dropout epidemic. This collaborative partnership, convened by the Boston Private Industry Council, has helped to raise awareness of high-risk youth and teens, which is beginning to translate into action at the policy level, and in the school system. 
• The need for credentialing for Out-of-School Time (OST) professionals.  Achieve Boston has worked with six institutions of higher education to develop a credentialing program for OST staff, which likely will prompt a growing demand for OST programs.
  

PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION

Massachusetts community colleges are enrolling more students than ever before, but students are arriving unprepared to do college level work.  Between 2001 and 2004 enrollment at Massachusetts community colleges increased 10 percent.  Today, more than half of undergraduate students who enroll in public higher education in Massachusetts enroll in community colleges; and more than one-third of all Massachusetts high school graduates who attend college, attend a community college.

Today’s college students are wealthier than at any point in the past 35 years and a college education is increasingly out of reach for middle- and low-income students.  According to the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, freshmen who entered college in 2006 come from families with incomes 60 percent greater than the national median.

• In 2006 the College Board reported that the total cost of attending public colleges in New England (including tuition, fees, room, and board) was $15,269—compared to $10,852 in the Southern states.  However, this is substantially less than the average cost of a private college in New England, which is $38,112—a sum still out of reach for many families.
• For the 2007-2008 school year the cost to attend UMASS Amherst, the flagship campus in the Massachusetts university system (including tuition, fees, room, and board) is estimated to be $17,399 for state residents.

Merit-based financial aid, (support offered primarily by individual colleges and universities and based on student achievement) is growing quickly. 

• Although data from the National Center for Educational Statistics reveal that need-based aid (grants, low-interest loans, and work study programs that are awarded based on income), still makes up the largest share of all student financial aid.  Between 1996 and 2004, merit aid increased by more than 200%.  During that same time, need-based aid increased just 47%.  The federal Pell Grant funding program, one of the largest providers of need-based aid for low-income students, declined in 2006 for the first time since 2000.
• According to the Education Trust, more and more colleges are using their resources to compete with each other for high-end, high-scoring students instead of providing financial support for otherwise qualified students from low-income families.  While some private institutions, such as Harvard, have made unprecedented commitments to increase need-based aid, if this trend continues, lower income students may begin to find college unaffordable.

Massachusetts families are spending more on education, with limited financial support. A MassInc report found that in 2003-04, families with students attending a community college in New England spent 17% of their annual income to cover the costs of college.  Families stretched even more to afford a public four-year college in the region, spending 21% of their income.

According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, Massachusetts has invested little in need-based financial aid when compared with competitor states.  The share of family income, even after financial aid, needed to pay for college expenses at public four-year institutions has increased from 28% to 34%.

Massachusetts has created a merit-based scholarship tied to MCAS.  In 2006, 899 students—nearly a third of the graduating class of Boston Public Schools—qualified for the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, which provides four years of free tuition to any state university or college in Massachusetts.  This marked a significant increase over earlier years (in 2004, 724 Boston Public Schools seniors qualified for the inaugural Scholarship). The scholarship is based on excellent performance on the MCAS.

Massachusetts public colleges have set a goal of meeting 100% of the financial need for 85% of their students.  In 2006, more than 200 college-bound graduates of the Boston Public Schools received “last dollar scholarships” from ACCESS, a nonprofit provider of financial aid advising and college scholarships.  More than 1,600 students and their families received financial aid counseling in that same year.

Public college graduation rates remain steady.  According to the Board of Higher Education’s 2005 Performance Indicator report, the six-year graduation rate for public colleges in Massachusetts (for students who first enrolled in 1998) was almost 48%, higher than the six-year graduation rate at public colleges across the nation.  Part-time enrollment and rising costs are contributing to the growing numbers of students who take six years to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Massachusetts community college graduation rates trail the nation, and Boston’s community colleges trail the Commonwealth’s as a whole.  According to the 2007 report of the Task Force on Retention and Completion Rates at Community Colleges, in 2005 the average community college graduation rate for first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students at Massachusetts community colleges was 17.4%, lower than the national average of 21.5%.  This low rate could be caused by any number of factors, including the fact that community colleges have open admissions and, as a result, attract the least prepared students.

Funding for Public Higher Education is lower than in 2001 and continues to be a struggle.  Community colleges have historically been under funded; between 2001 and 2004 Massachusetts had the largest decrease in funding for public higher education and was the only state to spend less on public higher education than it did 10 years earlier.  With few low-cost higher education options, low-income students and families are being shut out of higher education in Massachusetts.

ADULT EDUCATION

Massachusetts demographics are changing, rapidly, driven by immigration.  According to a 2005 MassInc report, as of 2004, one in seven Massachusetts residents was born in another country. Today, 17% of the Commonwealth’s workforce is made up of immigrants—almost twice as high as the percentage in 1980, when immigrants comprised close to 9% of the Massachusetts workforce. Half of today’s immigrants hail from Latin America and the Caribbean, while another 23% come from Asia. In Boston, the Mayor’s Office reports that 43% of the householders with 0-5 year old children are foreign-born. This is higher than the percentage for all households (26%).

The state’s Adult & Community Learning System is among the best in the country, yet Massachusetts is enrolling a smaller percentage of adults who could benefit from the system.  In its 2000 report,  New Skills for a New Economy, MassInc found that one-third of the state’s workers lack the skills needed to compete in the 21st century economy.  About 667,000 have a high school degree but are lacking skills; 195,000 have severely limited English; and 280,000 lack a high school degree. Yet, by 2005 only four states enrolled a smaller percentage of 16-24 year olds in adult education programs. Worse still, according to the  National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, in 2006, the percentage of Massachusetts working-age adults enrolled part-time in education or training beyond high school has declined by 24%, a sharper decline that the 12% observed nationally.

New funding for adult education will reduce, but not eliminate, the waiting list for services.  The Economic Stimulus Bill of 2006 appropriated an additional $3 million per year for adult education. These additional funds will help to move 1,400 adults off of the waiting list for services. While promising, nearly 18,000 adults remain on a waiting list for adult education programs. According to English for New Bostonians, 34% of the state’s new immigrants lack basic English literacy skills.