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Massachusetts vocational school admissions ‘moving in the wrong direction’: Legislators push leadership to nix selective criteria

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Massachusetts vocational school admissions ‘moving in the wrong direction’: Legislators push leadership to nix selective criteria


Gateway cities’ legislators are railing against the selective criteria in vocational school admissions, urging Gov. Maura Healey and her administration to follow up on “inadequate” efforts to address inequity in the competitive process.

“We write today to ask you to direct the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to prohibit selective criteria that discriminates against disadvantaged 8th graders and inhibits their social and economic mobility,” 26 members of the Gateway Cities Legislative Caucus wrote in a letter to Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.

“We believe children who grow up in poverty in Massachusetts — thousands of whom live in Gateway Cities — deserve the same opportunity to attend a vocational school,” the lawmakers added in the letter.

Many advocates have long argued the 2003 decision to force vocational schools to implement selective criteria in their admissions discriminates against against students of color, students from low-income families, English language learners and students with disabilities — and ends up sending more students to college instead of the trades.

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In 2021, BESE approved changes allowing vocational schools to adjust their admissions policies away from the mandate, and prohibited consideration of a student’s minor disciplinary infractions and excused absences.

Still, 26 of the state’s 28 schools continue to rank applicants. The schools consider applicants’ middle school grades, recommendations and record.

“In last year’s admissions cycle however, two schools adopted a lottery for the first time — Assabet Valley and Worcester Tech — and meaningfully closed opportunity gaps in admissions between protected classes of students and their peers,” the letter states. “Lotteries worked to create an admissions standard that is fair to all students of all backgrounds.”

The representatives’ appeal to state leadership follows stalled legislative pushes to return vocational schools’ lottery admissions. Groups of parents and advocates have also filed pending complaints with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

Admissions to vocational schools have been highly competitive in recent years, with only about 8,000 of 18,000 applicants gaining admission in the 2021-22 school year.

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In the most recent admissions cycle since the BESE change, the marginalized students were admitted at an even lower rate and opportunity gaps widened, the legislators wrote.

“In every measurable equity metric, the Commonwealth is moving in the wrong direction,” the letter argues.

“We respectfully request you mandate lottery admissions at vocational schools to hold these institutions to the same equity standard our charter schools have successfully met for the past three decades: a standard where every applicant within a municipality, regardless of race, national origin, disability, or household income, has the same chance at admission to these public high schools,” the legislators urged.



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Massachusetts

‘Oh, God! Oh, God!’: Massachusetts couple frightened by huge shark by their boat (WATCH)

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‘Oh, God! Oh, God!’: Massachusetts couple frightened by huge shark by their boat (WATCH)


A Massachusetts couple, out boating, were startled and frightened by a 20-foot shark this week.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

One started videotaping the experience, while the shark came close to the boat.

“Oh, God!, Oh God!” the woman said.

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The main responded, “Wow!”

Because the fish was so big, the woman, at first, thought it was a whale, but the man said, “No, that is a shark.”

“That is a shark like I’ve never seen,” said the woman after realizing it was indeed a shark.

The shark swam toward the boat, before the video ends.



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Gov. Healey’s southern border trip cost taxpayers $6,800, according to new data

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Gov. Healey’s southern border trip cost taxpayers $6,800, according to new data


The Healey administration shelled out more than $6,800 to send a five-person team to the southern border in Texas to “educate” people of a shelter shortage here, according to her office.

The trip was pitched as another attempt to curtail the number of migrants arriving in Massachusetts and make connections with federal immigration officials who were dealing with a surge in border crossings down south.

A spokesperson for the governor said Friday the group spent a total of $6,804 on the four-day trip this week, including $2,028 on hotels, $3,903 on flights, and $872 on ground transportation.

Scott Rice, a retired National Guard general who oversees the state-run shelter system, said the trip was an “important opportunity to meet with families arriving in the U.S. and the organizations that work with them at the border to make sure they have accurate information about the lack of shelter space in Massachusetts.”

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“It is essential that we get the word out that our shelters are full so that families can plan accordingly to make sure they have a safe place to go,” he said in a statement earlier this week.

The group visited locations in San Antonio, McAllen, Hidalgo, and Brownsville, the most common points of entry for migrant families that later arrive in Massachusetts, according to the Healey administration.

Healey said earlier this week that the trip was “successful” even as conservatives criticized the move as a “publicity stunt.”

“We don’t have housing available right now, and we wanted to be really clear. It’s something I’ve been saying for a long time, but I think it was important that we be able to communicate directly with folks on the ground,” she said. “I think it’s successful. I think it’s important that we be out there with that message.”

Details on how much the trip cost were released only hours after Gov. Maura Healey banned migrants from sleeping at Logan Airport, where large groups have gathered for months to stay overnight.

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The directive takes effect July 9 and the state plans to offer people at the airport transportation to overflow shelter sites, including one that opened this week at a former prison in Norfolk.

Healey did not say if police would arrest those that violate the order.

“We’re going to take it as it comes. My hope is through the work that we’re doing and the extensive communication that we’re doing right now with folks, not just at the border, but folks who are in our service provider community, that we’re going to get people relocated,” she said Friday, “and also be clear to people who might think about coming here that this really is an option.”



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Massachusetts gas prices fell from last week: See how much here

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Massachusetts gas prices fell from last week: See how much here


Massachusetts gas prices fell for the second consecutive week and reached an average of $3.40 per gallon of regular fuel on Monday, down from last week’s price of $3.44 per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The average fuel price in the state has fallen about 11 cents since last month. According to the EIA, gas prices across the state in the last year have been as low as $3.07 on Jan. 29 and as high as $3.76 on Aug. 7, 2023.

A year ago, the average gas price in Massachusetts was 3% higher at $3.51 per gallon.

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>> INTERACTIVE: See how your area’s gas prices have changed over the years at data.capecodtimes.com.

The average gas price in the United States last week was $3.44, making prices in the state about 1% lower than the nation’s average. The average national gas price is up from last week’s average of $3.44 per gallon.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Please leave any feedback or corrections for this story here. This story was written by Ozge Terzioglu.



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