On Monday, October 7, 2024, LWVN, together with its cosponsors LWVMA, LWV Boston, LWV Brookline, LWV Needham, LWV Harvard, LWV Waltham, LWV Wellesley, and LWV Weston, hosted a forum to discuss Question #2 on November’s ballot: Should Massachusetts eliminate the MCAS test as a high school graduation requirement?
We heard an extremely robust debate about the pros and cons of this ballot initiative from our panelists Deb McCarthy and Alain Jehlen (proponents of “Yes” on Question #2), Ed Lambert and Jill Norton (proponents of “No” on Question #2), and Farah Assiraj (a school administrative expert). Our moderator was Heather Hamilton. This event was taped by Brookline Interactive Group (“BIG”), Brookline’s local media outlet.
Deb McCarthy is a representative from the Massachusetts Teachers Association (for a “Yes” vote). Deb is the vice-president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. She was a fifth-grade educator in the Town of Hull for 25 years. She is the daughter of an educator, the mother of an educator, her sister was an educator and her daughter-in-law is an educator. She was a swimming instructor for the town recreation’s program for more than 40 years. She is the mother of four and the grandmother to nine. Working with children has been a lifelong commitment and she has been engaged in the fight to eliminate the high stakes of the MCAS for more than a decade now. As the niece of Maureen Dunn, the co-founder of the POW-MIA movement, Deb understands the importance of standing up and speaking out while demanding that systems be held accountable for actions that have created unintended consequences and harm.
Alain Jehlen is a member of the executive board of Citizens for Public Schools, which was formed in 1982 as a coalition of groups opposed to a ballot question seeking to divert tax dollars to parochial schools. The League of Women Voters was part of that coalition. CPS is now an individual membership organization. Jehlen edits a blog about the Boston Public Schools called Boston Parents Schoolyard News. He started as an education writer with the Quincy Patriot Ledger and later wrote for the magazine of the National Education Association. He has a PhD in sociology from Harvard.
Edward M. Lambert, Jr. is the representative from the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (for a “No” vote). Before joining MBAE in January of 2019, Ed served as vice chancellor for university relations at UMass Boston, where he was responsible for government and community relations, corporate relations and communications. Ed was founding director of the Urban Initiative of UMass Dartmouth, a research center focusing on urban policy and leadership issues. There, he helped organize the state’s Gateway Cities Coalition and assisted in designing and implementing state programs and legislation to support them, and led the Initiative’s work in urban schools assessing practices and serving as the regional satellite of the National Dropout Prevention Center. He also taught Public Policy and Public Management and served as the Chair of the Education Policy Committee of the Kaput Center for STEM Education and Research.
Ed’s record of service also includes seven years as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where, as a member of the Education Committee, he assisted in the creation and passage of the 1993 Education Reform Act. He co-chaired the legislature’s Literacy Caucus in support of increased funding for Adult Basic Education and literacy programs. He also served twelve years as the mayor of Fall River, initiating a comprehensive school building campaign and creating a series of community education summits. He served 22 years on the Fall River School Committee, earning himself the Massachusetts Association of School Committees Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ed served 8 years as a mentor to at-risk youth in the SMILES Mentoring program. He also served on a national task force for the development of the 21st Century Workforce of the Urban Serving Universities. He was appointed Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation by Governor Patrick and, earlier in his career, served as the director of social services at Saint Vincent’s Home in Fall River. He earned his BA in psychology at UMass Dartmouth and his MEd in counseling at Bridgewater State College.
Jill Norton is a parent and director of Clark Street Consulting. Jill and her husband are the parents of two school-aged boys, one of whom learns differently because of dyslexia and ADHA. Jill has spent over 25 years working to improve public education beginning as an elementary and Montessori teacher, leading a non-profit think thank focused on Massachusetts education policies, and supporting educators through professional development. She has served as a senior policy advisor to three Massachusetts Secretaries of Education, consulted to and advised state education agencies as Director of Education Policy at Abt Associates, and now consults to education nonprofits in Massachusetts and nationally through Clark Street Consulting, which she founded. Jill’s lifelong passion is helping public education level the playing field for all kids.
Farah Assiraj has worked for over 20 years in urban schools. She is the CEO of CairEducation and was the Chief of Teaching and Learning for the Council of the Great City Schools. She previously served as the Deputy Chief Academic Officer for the Boston Public Schools (BPS) where she supported all of the academic departments and worked in the areas of student support systems, bilingual education, and services for English language learners. Farah has an undergraduate degree in sociology; a Master’s degree in Linguistics; a creative leadership certificate; and is completing a Ph.D. in Research and Evaluation in Education at Harvard.
Heather Hamilton is the Deputy Director for Brookline Interactive Group affectionately called BIG, the community access media station of Brookline. Prior to her joining BIG, Heather served as the Chair of the Select Board for the Town of Brookline, the largest town in the Commonwealth. Heather holds two advanced degrees in Transportation Policy from George Mason University and Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School. She is also a member of the League of Women Voters in Brookline and a proud Rotary Club Member.
For more detailed information on Question #2, and all the other ballot questions, see our Ballot Questions for November 2024 post.