As we recognize #TeacherAppreciationWeek. let’s honor our teachers by giving them the resources and support they need.
Let’s join together to fight for:
* No delay in the implementation of the Student Opportunity Act: Advocates have spent years fighting to fix the education funding formula, to help ensure that the zip code you are born in doesn’t dictate your educational opportunity. I join the Massachusetts Teachers Association in urging the Legislature to not let these changes to be delayed.
* Healthy kids, healthy schools: There is pending legislation to ensure at least 20 minutes of unstructured, free-play recess each day for kids from kindergarten to grade 5. Free play is critical in ensuring that kids develop their creativity, reduce stress, and stay healthy. Let’s commit to making this a reality.
* Universal Pre-K: Every child in the Commonwealth should have access to free Pre-K, and we must stand with educators across the state to make it happen. There is currently a wide disparity in enriching educational and childcare opportunities between wealthy families and working-class families. It doesn’t have to be this way.
* Expanded access to vocational and technical education: Let’s clear the 3,000+ student waitlist to get in to vocational schools, so high schoolers who want to pursue a trade have the ability to do so.
Together with parents, teachers, and administrators, we can build a school system that gives every child in Massachusetts the opportunity to succeed.
Joe Gravellese 