What is Your View on a National Educational Standard?

The MA Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education recently voted to replace current state educational guidelines with a national standard. Specifically, the new guidelines would call for certain materials to be taught in English and math across the board. Do you believe it is necessary for the towns of Needham, Dover and Medfield to be brought up to a national standard or do you believe these school systems were doing just fine and should be left to their own merits?

Denise Garlick (D)

The national standards were adopted unanimously by the Massachusetts Department of Education and approved by the Governor. Largely based on our state standards, I view them as an affirmation of Massachusetts' leadership in education. Furthermore, the new standards allow states to change up to 15% of the guidelines and they should meet or exceed current standards. The national standards come with the opportunity for significant financial support ( greater than $200 Million) that is critical to schools both in and out of our district. I am deeply committed to continuing to provide the students of Needham, Dover and Medfield a strong academic foundation that prepares them for college and the workplace in the global economy.

Joshua Levy (R)

I disagree with the decision to adopt national education standards for English and Math. Whenever we allow an outside organization—even the US Department of Education—to set our standards, we become indebted to that organization either materially or programmatically. When it comes to education, our state should be indebted to no one but our teachers, school administrators and families. The schools systems of Needham, Medfield & Dover-Sherborn have been consistently high achieving examples of this philosophy. The solution should not have been to outsource our educational standards, but rather to keep our standards applicable and competitive on our own terms.

Gary McNeill (D)

The decision made by the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education was made in an attempt to bring more Federal funding to our classrooms across the Commonwealth.  In these tough economic times, I would generally favor seeking all avenues to increased funding.  However, if a proposal such as this one were brought in front of me in the State Legislature I would not be supportive of it for one important reason: The public schools of Massachusetts are often regarded as the best in the Nation.  Not one of the best, THE BEST. It is unfortunate that we need to change standards that are clearly working in order to seek increased federal funding.

John O'Leary (R)

Massachusetts has abandoned its standards for an unproven set of federal guidelines. This is a huge mistake. The standards used in Massachusetts have helped to produce the highest test scores in the nation. Why abandon these stellar standards? They are working. When the Obama administration offered extra funds to encourage this federal takeover of education, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts should have declined.  And remember, those "federal dollars" are our tax dollars to begin with. The public schools in Needham (as well as Dover-Sherborn and Medfield) will continue to provide strong education, but this certainly won't help.

Jerry Wasserman (D)

Schools in Needham, Dover and Medfield are among the best performing in Massachusetts.  The federal standard, largely based on the Massachusetts model, won't change that performance.  While this national standard dictates some elements of curriculum, there is room for variation. Given the similarity between State and Federal standards, and with $250 million in Federal Funds at stake, the decision was likely correct. The real issue is whether we measure performance with a single test or several methodologies. Children learn differently, and demonstrate learning in different ways. To best serve our children, we need multiple means for measuring performance.