Patrick names Reville as new education secretary
BOSTON—Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday named Paul Reville, one of the architects of the landmark 1993 Education Reform Act, to be his new Chairman of the Board of Education, a Cabinet-level position responsible for implementing the governor's education reforms.
Patrick also named three members to the newly expanded Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, including Bridgewater State College President Dana Mohler-Faria, Patrick's top education adviser. He tapped two others to fill vacancies on the Board of Early Education and Care.
Reville has a long education resume.
He currently serves as chairman of the Board of Education, a post Patrick appointed him to in August. He previously served on the board from 1991-96.
Reville also is the president of the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy in Cambridge and the director of the Education Policy and Management Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
At a press conference at a high school in Boston, Reville said the biggest challenge he faced would be closing the achievement gap facing poor and minority students, something he acknowledged would probably require increased revenues in the future.
"If we want to give them a world-class education, the kind of education that we'd want to give our own children, then we're going to have to spend more money over time," Reville said.
Patrick said Reville would help lead the next phase of education reform in Massachusetts. Reville helped craft the 1993 law, which dramatically increased funding of education and introduced the MCAS exam.
"Paul has a long and distinguished career as a champion of educational excellence," Patrick said. "As education secretary, Paul will build on that experience."
The new Executive Office of Education, which was approved by lawmakers last year, was created by Patrick to help improve coordination across all areas of education: early education and care, K-12 and higher education. The goal is to help guide students through every level of their education and into the work force.
Along with Mohler-Faria, Patrick named Gerald Chertavian and Jeffrey Howard to the Board of Education. He also appointed Carol Craig O'Brien and Chi-Cheng Huang to the Board of Early Education and Care.
Chertavian is the founder and CEO of Year Up, which serves low-income youth ages 18 to 24. Howard, a social psychologist, is the founder of The Efficacy Institute, which provides training and application methods to adults in school systems and community organizations.
"Each of these individuals brings a deep personal commitment to improving educational opportunities for children all across the commonwealth," Patrick said.
Craig O'Brien is the early childhood coordinator for Westwood Public Schools, while Huang is the founder of the Bolivian Street Children Project.
Reville's appointment won praise from advocacy groups and other top education officials.
Frederick Clark, chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, said Reville was the right choice to help shepherd students from kindergarten through college.
"We need to ensure that all Massachusetts students are not only ready for college when they arrive, but prepared to succeed and complete degrees," said Patricia Plummer, Commissioner of the Department of Higher Education.
Amy O'Leary, head of the Early Education for All Campaign -- a coalition of business, early childhood, labor and religious leaders -- said Reville will help the state make universal pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten a reality.
Reville's appointment also drew criticism.
The Massachusetts Republican Party pointed to testimony Reville gave in 2003, when he criticized a plan by former Gov. Mitt Romney to create an education secretariat much like the job he was appointed to by Patrick.
"No matter how well-constituted, an education secretariat creates a competing center of power that vies with and against the state's" education department and commissioner," Reville said at the time, according to the Lowell Sun.
"Another day, more hypocrisy from the Democrats," said GOP spokesman Barney Keller. "No wonder they tried to stop most of Gov. Romney's reforms: so they'd have some ideas of their own if they took the corner office."
