The Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA) of 1993 was an act of legislation passed in Massachusetts that "greatly increased the state's role in [a] funding public education and in [b] guiding the local education process." [1] Over a 7-year period, MERA mandated several modern educational reforms, among them: the introduction of charter schools and the use of the MCAS standardized test. MERA is based on Outcomes Based Education.
Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, the motivations for reform have not reflected the current needs of society. A consistent theme of reform includes the idea that large systematic changes to educational standards will produce social returns in citizens' health, wealth, and well-being.
Catharine Alice MacKinnon is an American feminist legal scholar, activist, and author. She is the Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where she has been tenured since 1990, and the James Barr Ames Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. From 2008 to 2012, she was the special gender adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765 (1978), is a U.S. constitutional law case which defined the free speech right of corporations for the first time. The United States Supreme Court held that corporations have a First Amendment right to make contributions to ballot initiative campaigns. The ruling came in response to a Massachusetts law that prohibited corporate donations in ballot initiatives unless the corporation's interests were directly involved.
Mark Roosevelt is an American academic administrator and politician serving as the seventh president of the Santa Fe campus of St. John's College. He was the President of Antioch College from January 2011 to December 2015 and superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, the second largest school district in Pennsylvania, until December 31, 2010. He served as a state legislator in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and was the Democratic nominee for governor in the 1994 Massachusetts gubernatorial election. Roosevelt is the great-grandson of Theodore Roosevelt.
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at other places.
The 109th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005, to January 3, 2007, during the fifth and sixth years of George W. Bush's presidency. House members were elected in the 2004 elections on November 2, 2004. Senators were elected in three classes in the 2000 elections on November 7, 2000, 2002 elections on November 5, 2002, or 2004 elections on November 2, 2004. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 2000 United States census.
Therese Murray is an American politician who served as President of the Massachusetts Senate from 2007 to 2015. Murray, a Democrat, was the first woman to lead a house of the Massachusetts General Court. She represented the Plymouth and Barnstable district in the Massachusetts Senate from 1993 to 2015.
The Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School is a public charter school in Devens, Massachusetts, United States that serves students in grades 7 to 12. It was established in 1995 under the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993, and serves about 400 students from 40 surrounding towns in north central Massachusetts, including Ayer, Shirley, Littleton, Leominster, Lunenburg, and Worcester. As a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools, a leading organization for education reform, Parker is known for its nontraditional educational philosophy. The school takes its name from Francis Wayland Parker, a 19th-century pioneer of the progressive school movement.
Lloyd Nicholas Trefethen is an American mathematician, professor of numerical analysis and head of the Numerical Analysis Group at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford.
The tender years doctrine is a legal principle in family law since the late 19th century. In common law, it presumes that during a child's "tender" years, the mother should have custody of the child. The doctrine often arises in divorce proceedings.
Karen Eileen Spilka is an American politician and attorney serving as a Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate. She represents the towns of Ashland, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medway and Natick in the MetroWest region of Massachusetts. She has served as the 95th President of the Massachusetts Senate since July 2018. Previously she served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 2001 to 2005.
The Michigan Farm Radio Network (MFRN) is a radio network that provides specialty programming geared toward farmers in Michigan. It is owned by Learfield Communications and is a sisters with the Michigan Radio Network.
Paul Reville is a U.S. politician, teacher, school principal, and educational researcher who was the Massachusetts Secretary of Education from 2008 to 2013 under Governor Deval Patrick. He currently serves as the Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Massachusetts House of Representatives' 10th Bristol district in the United States is one of 160 legislative districts included in the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court. It covers parts of Bristol County and Plymouth County. Democrat Bill Straus of Mattapoisett has represented the district since 1993.
Massachusetts House of Representatives' 12th Bristol district in the United States is one of 160 legislative districts included in the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court. It covers parts of Bristol County and Plymouth County. Republican Norman Orrall of Lakeville has represented the district since 2019.
Massachusetts House of Representatives' 13th Suffolk district in the United States is one of 160 legislative districts included in the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court. It covers part of Quincy in Norfolk County and part of Boston in Suffolk County. Democrat Dan Hunt of Dorchester has represented the district since 2014.
Massachusetts House of Representatives' 9th Worcester district in the United States is one of 160 legislative districts included in the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court. It covers part of Worcester County. Republican David Muradian of Grafton has represented the district since 2015.
Massachusetts House of Representatives' 7th Norfolk district in the United States is one of 160 legislative districts included in the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court. It covers part of Norfolk County. Democrat Bill Driscoll Jr. of Milton has represented the district since 2017.
Massachusetts House of Representatives' 19th Suffolk district in the United States is one of 160 legislative districts included in the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court. It covers part of Suffolk County. The seat is represented by Jeffrey Turco.
Massachusetts House of Representatives' 12th Hampden district in the United States is one of 160 legislative districts included in the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court. It covers part of Hampden County. Since 2007, Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr. of the Democratic Party has represented the district.