House of Representatives Passes Education Collaboratives Reform

Earlier this week, I joined my colleagues in the House of Representatives in passing legislation that will improve the governance, financial accountability, and state and local oversight of regional education collaboratives.

The legislation establishes new procedures that will increase transparency and oversight of these education collaboratives, including new ethics requirements for board members and personnel, more oversight by the Attorney General, State Auditor, and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and more strict reporting requirements on programs, services, and progress.

Much of the current legislation seeks to address deficiencies in current law that became apparent after a string of audits and investigations conducted by the State Auditor and Inspector General. The proposed legislation was drafted after a comprehensive oversight hearing process conducted by the Joint Committee on Education in the wake of abuses uncovered by the investigations.

During debate on the legislation, I advocated for an amendment to ensure adequate staffing for nurses at education collaboratives. The adopted amendment requires at least one registered, certified school nurse at each collaborative, with appropriate facilities and staffing levels to meet the specific health care needs of the collaboratives’ students.

I feel that this legislation will increase transparency and oversight, and help education collaboratives provide the high quality education our students deserve. My amendment also ensures that students are provided with proper care from school nurses, helping them focus on their education. School nurses play an important role in keeping kids healthy and in class.

The bill sets forth several requirements for the governance of education collaboratives. It first requires that an education collaborative be managed by a board of directors consisting of one person appointed annually by each member school committee or member charter school board. The board is required to meet six times annually and each board member must report back to his or her appointing school committee on a quarterly basis.

The legislation also requires that the board of directors of a collaborative must appoint an outside treasurer to handle investments and maintain a fiscally responsible financial accounting system. An annual audit report from each collaborative will be submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the state Auditor, and each member school committee for review. Each collaborative must also prepare and submit an annual report detailing the programs and services provided as well as their financial standing.

Additionally, this legislation establishes an 11-member commission to study the role of education collaboratives in Massachusetts. The commission will be responsible for filing a report with its recommendations with the Clerks of the House and Senate no later than 12 months following its first meeting.