Massachusetts

Will Massachusetts backslide without MCAS graduation requirement?

Published

1 year ago

November 17, 2024

Will Massachusetts backslide without MCAS graduation requirement?

BOSTON – Now that Question 2 has passed, removing MCAS as a graduation requirement in Massachusetts schools, are standards for high school graduation in the state practically nonexistent? One civic activist thinks so.

Will Massachusetts backslide without MCAS requirement?

“It is absolutely back to the future,” said Eastern Bank Executive Chairman Bob Rivers. “The only standard we will have left is four years attending, four years of gym and four years of civics.”

Rivers was one of a group of local business executives who joined with Gov. Maura Healey, Secretary of Education Pat Tutwiler and others in opposition to ending the MCAS standard. In an interview with WBZ-TV, he said that as a result of the 59%-41% approval of Question Two, “You’re just not going to know where your kids sit in an individual school in any particular way. There will still be an MCAS that’ll be administered, but it will become increasingly irrelevant because people won’t pay attention to it. They won’t study it. There’s already ways to opt out of it anyway.”

Campaign ads sponsored by the state’s largest teacher union, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, offered a vision of graduation standards tailored to individual students by teachers and, presumably, local school districts. But Rivers – and even some Beacon Hill supporters of Question Two – see a need for some form of statewide standards.

Will there be new statewide education standards?

Rivers noted that one of the driving forces behind the 1993 Education Reform Act that led to the MCAS standard was concern among employers that a high-school diploma offered no reliable guarantee that the graduate had the basic skills needed in the workplace.

“We see it a lot today now, in many ways, where kids just aren’t prepared for work, the workforce, a career or higher education, and this is only going to make it, make it worse,” he said. “Before the 1993 reform law, we were not number one in the nation in public education. We are today by any particular standard [but scores have been slipping in recent years]. A competitive strength of Massachusetts is the power of our workforce. Unfortunately, by elimination of this standard, that’s been significantly damaged.”

Rivers also discussed his objections to a deal worked out between Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and other business leaders that would raise commercial property tax rates in the city above the legal limit temporarily to compensate for an expected drop in revenues due to high office vacancy rates.

Jon Keller

Jon Keller is the political analyst for WBZ-TV News. His “Keller @ Large” reports on a wide range of topics are regularly featured during WBZ News at 5 and 6 p.m.

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Massachusetts

How will the Iran war impact gas prices in Massachusetts?

Published

2 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

How will the Iran war impact gas prices in Massachusetts?

With a widening conflict in the Middle East after the American and Israeli attack on Iran Saturday, global markets are bracing for a shakeup in the energy supply chain.

So, here at home, what can consumers expect at the gas pump?

An increase in oil prices is almost always followed by an increase in gas prices. And the oil market has already reacted to the war. NBC News reported on Sunday that U.S. crude oil initially spiked more than 10%, while Brent, the international oil benchmark, rose as much as 13%.

Early Monday morning, reports were coming in of black smoke rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City.

While Iran’s oil reserves supply less than an estimated 5% of global production, the main concern is the Strait of Hormuz. This maritime passageway borders Iran at the bottleneck of the Persian Gulf, and more than 20% of the world’s oil passes through. If Iran closes or restricts Hormuz, the oil market could face severe disruptions.

Gas prices rise about 2.5 cents for every dollar increase in crude oil prices. As of Sunday, U.S. crude oil prices had already increased by nearly $5 a barrel.

“I fully expect that by Monday night, you could credibly say that gas prices are being impacted by oil prices having gone up,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan told NBC News.

GasBuddy characterizes their expectations for price increases as “incremental” rather than “explosive”. The group said to anticipate a potential 10-15 cent increase over the next couple of weeks.

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Massachusetts

Body camera video shows Massachusetts police officer save 78-year-old man from burning truck – East Idaho News

Published

14 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Body camera video shows Massachusetts police officer save 78-year-old man from burning truck – East Idaho News

EASTON, Mass. (WBZ) — Police body camera video shows an Easton, Massachusetts, officer rescuing a 78-year-old Raynham man from a burning car on Friday morning.

A Mack dump truck was experiencing problems on the side of Turnpike Street just after 2 a.m. when a Ford pickup truck struck the back of it, according to police.

The pickup truck then became stuck under the dump truck, trapping the driver, Francis Leverone, inside. A Toyota Camry then hit the back of the pickup truck and caught fire, police said.

Easton police officer Dean Soucie arrived at the crash and saw that the two vehicles were on fire. Video shows Soucie rushing over before breaking the driver’s side window and then, with the help of the two witnesses, freeing Leverone from the pickup truck. Soucie said he was confused but conscious.

“As I reached inside the vehicle, one of the passersby — he actually jumped into the cab of the truck, and he helped me free the individual,” Soucie said.

They then carried the driver to safety.

Leverone was taken to a nearby hospital before being transferred to a Boston hospital. He received serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

No one else was injured in the crash.

Dee Leverone told WBZ her husband is doing OK. “I’m just thankful for the people that got him out,” she said. “Very thankful.”

After watching the police body-cam video on the news she said, “I was shocked, I was like ‘Oh my God!’ I just couldn’t believe it. His truck is like melted.”

She says she realized that something was wrong last night when her husband never made it home from work.

“I kept trying to call him and call him, and I finally got a hold of him at like 4:30 a.m., and he was at (Good Samaritan Hospital) and he told me he’s gotten in an accident,” Dee said.

She says he’s recovering at the Boston Medical Center and being treated for a dislocated hip.

“He’s a trooper,” Dee said. “He’s a strong man — and you know he’s 78, but you know he’s a toughie. He definitely is a toughie.”

Soucie commended the help of the two witnesses and said that before he arrived at the crash, they had attempted to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher and removed a gasoline tank from the pickup truck before it could ignite.

“They jumped into action like it was nothing,” Soucie said. “Those two individuals were absolutely awesome.”

Easton Police Chief Keith Boone said that he is “extremely proud” of Soucie and the witnesses.

“He saved a life last night,” Chief Boone said. “He is an exemplary police officer and this is just one example. I think he’s a hero.”

Turnpike Street was closed for several hours following the crash. Easton Police are investigating.