Massachusetts
Massachusetts Teachers Association votes to support ballot question ending MCAS graduation requirement
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) unanimously voted to support a ballot question aimed at eliminating the MCAS or Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam as a high school graduation requirement.
The lengthy exam forces teachers to prepare their classrooms to take it.
“it was a rough week every time we had to do it,” said Reva Finley-Call, who teaches in Massachusetts.
“Working at a school and seeing my students struggle or you get anxious because it’s a big thing and you have to pass it to pass school. Even as a student I hated standardized testing,” said Finley-Call.
But that may no longer be the case. On Sunday, just weeks away from the start of school, the MTA voted to support a November ballot question that could change MCAS requirements.
“We are a union that is committed to fixing a key part of what’s wrong in public schools, that is this over-reliance on high stakes testing,” said MTA President Max Page.
“What students will be judged on is successfully passing the curriculum that shows they have mastered our state standards. Grades in courses,” said Page.
And the ballot measure wouldn’t eliminate the test entirely – it would only eliminate the requirement someone must meet a certain score to get a high school diploma.
“We know that the evaluation of educators who do this work on a daily basis, who educate our children, is the best reflection on how students have done in our coursework,” said Page.
The MTA board doubled down on access to education voting to support a legislative campaign for the passage of the Cherish Act, which includes increasing state funding in higher public education and increasing pay for faculty and staff.
The MTA will have until November of this year to gather roughly 75,000 signatures. They will then present the ballot measure to the legislature who could approve it right away. If not, the measure will be voted on in November of 2024.
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Massachusetts
Dangerousness hearing held for Taunton man in Fall River after Massachusetts, Rhode Island State Police make trafficking arrest involving Bristol, Plymouth, RI counties
A dangerousness hearing was held Friday for a Bristol County man after a drug trafficking investigation led to his arrest.
According to Massachusetts State Police, during May and June of this year, members of the Commonwealth Interstate Narcotics Reduction Enforcement Team – South initiated an investigation into narcotics trafficking. Intelligence revealed that 33-year-old Jason Hodo of Taunton was distributing trafficking quantities of fentanyl and cocaine in Rhode Island and throughout Plymouth and Bristol Counties in Massachusetts. Investigators completed extensive traditional and covert surveillance, record checks, and intelligence analysis. The investigation led to warrants being sought and granted to search for all controlled substances at all locations related to Hodo.
In June, executing officers followed Hodo in his vehicle after he departed the Rhode Island location and drove to a Taunton gas station. Hodo was detained, searched, and arrested after amounts of fentanyl and cocaine were located. Members then executed the “knock and announce” search warrants without incident at locations in both states.
The searches in Massachusetts led to the seizure of approximately 528 grams of fentanyl, 206 grams of cocaine, and nearly $22,000 from Hodo’s person and vehicle. Hodo was eventually transported to State Police-Middleboro for booking on charges related to Trafficking Class A and Class B Substances.
A simultaneous search of the Rhode Island location by Rhode Island State Police revealed the following: two firearms loaded with high-capacity magazines, approximately 12 grams of fentanyl, nearly $19,000, several high value bars of gold, jewelry, and a diamond/gold chain with receipt for $103,000.
Previously in Fall River Superior Court, Hodo pled not guilty at his arraignment and was held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Friday.
On Friday, also in Fall River Superior Court, dangerousness was taken under advisement with Hodo still held without bail.
His next scheduled court appearance is a pre-trial conference in February.
Massachusetts
Mass. State Lottery winner: Lucky store sold 6 winning tickets Friday
It was the final day of the fall, but for one store in Arlington, it was their luckiest day of the year.
On Friday, Dec. 20, Peter Pan Superette in Arlington sold six winning Keno tickets, each worth $9,600.
While over the course of the year the store has at times sold two winners in one day, Friday was the only time in 2024 the total grew to six.
Overall, at least 565 worth $600 or more were won or claimed in Massachusetts on Friday, including six in Springfield, 29 in Worcester and 42 in Boston.
The Massachusetts State Lottery releases a full list of winning tickets every day. The list only includes winning tickets worth more than $600.
So far, the largest lottery prize won in Massachusetts this year was worth $1 million a year for life.
The prize was from the lottery’s “Lifetime Millions” scratch ticket game. The winner claimed their prize through a trust on July 10, and opted to receive a one-time payment of $15.4 million.
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