Education has played a large role in helping to provide the opportunities I have had in my life and I know the same will be true for my children and the children of this community. That's why I'm committed to actively working on education issues and why I volunteer at both Briscoe Middle School and North Beverly Elementary School.

Since the state's landmark education reform in the early 1990's, Massachusetts kids have vaulted to the head of the class compared to kids from other states. Not only must we keep them there, but we must be certain that Beverly's kids are equipped to compete with kids not only from Marblehead, Danvers and Salem, but from Moscow, New Delhi and Shanghai.

To do that, we know that high standards and independent oversight work for Massachusetts.

However, in recent legislative sessions, there has been a steady erosion of independent oversight, of the demand for high standards and a lack of commitment to fixing the Chapter 70 funding formula. 

That erosion has now reached a critical point with the recent action by the Governor's hand-picked education commissioner recommending a move away from the proven standards created by our state's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education when it was an independent policy-making body motivated by the needs of our students and not by politics.

Specifically, in education, I will actively pursue these things:

• I will support local aid and Chapter 70 policies that don’t short-change our cities and towns. I believe that our state tax money is better spent in local schools than wasted on Beacon Hill and that the legislature should not adopt new, unfunded mandates for our school districts. 
• I will support maintaining our state's ability to chart its own course on education standards and continue to be able to lead the country in education achievement.
• I will support a return for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to an independent policy-making body and restoring the independent overseers of education accountability in the state.
• I will support adding personal finance classes to our high school curricula to prepare our kids for the realities of mortgages, bank accounts, car loans and household budgets. 
• I will focus on keeping college costs within reach for families by ensuring that our state colleges and universities are run without waste and that private schools are able to use their endowments to provide financial aid and not fund state government.