Patrick names three to panel on education
Governor Deval Patrick yesterday appointed a business leader , a college president, and a former superintendent of Boston Public Schools to carry out his multibillion-dollar plans to reform the state's education system.
As part of his vision of a "cradle-to-career" education system that would expand state public education, Patrick tapped former Boston Public Schools superintendent Thomas W. Payzant ,
"To ensure our children receive an unparalleled education, we need a team of the brightest leaders and thinkers in education, in business, and in local communities to work through the challenges and the solutions we face," Patrick said in a statement. "We know where we are headed. The job of this team will be to imple ment that vision."
The team's job is to draft a 10-year plan that would include universal early education and care for children as young as age 3, full-day kindergarten, improved teacher certification and mentoring, and a more equitable distribution of state money.
The governor has asked the team, which will include educators from throughout the state, to submit their plan by March 31 .
Glenn Koocher , executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees , applauded the appointments.
"We believe they are champions of the public schools and will try to effect meaningful reform," Koocher said. "I don't believe they have a hidden agenda. . . . I'm quite optimistic about a very fruitful collaboration."
Paul Reville , president of the Cambridge-based Rennie Center for Education, Research and Policy, said each of the appointees brings a distinct asset to the team.
"In Tom Payzant is one of the nation's most highly recognized K-12 leaders," Reville said. "In Jackie Jenkins-Scott, you have an outstanding and unconventional higher education leader who has strong community-based connections. In Joe Tucci, you have a corporate leader who has taken a leadership role in education and representing the business community's interest in a very strong education sector."
In statements provided by the governor's office, the panel members said they look forward to contributing.
"With leadership, vision, and a willingness to work together to make tough choices about the fundamental elements of our education system, we can take public education where it needs to go," said Payzant, a senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who was superintendent of Boston Public Schools from October 1995 until he retired last June.
"By focusing on the connections between all segments of the education system and between education and the broader community, we can be assured of the Commonwealth's continued leadership in the years to come," said Jenkins-Scott, president of Wheelock College since 2004. She spent the previous 21 years as CEO of the Dimock Community Health Center in Roxbury.
Tucci, chairman of EMC Corp. since January 2006 and president and chief executive officer since 2001, is one of 150 chief executive members of The Business Roundtable and the former chairman of its Task Force on education and the workforce.
"So many important things flow from access to a first-rate education -- the ability to acquire and extend knowledge, the habit of lifelong learning, and the readiness to compete and meet life's endless challenges," Tucci said. 