Governor, Education Secretary in Medford Tuesday

Patrick, Reville Hold Q & A with Medford Teachers

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and state Education Secretary Paul Reville visited the Roberts Elementary School on Tuesday afternoon to have a conversation with Medford teachers. Dozens of teachers attended and expressed concern with issues such as testing English Language Learners, teacher certification, the MCAS exam, funding, and challenges with meeting standards while addressing different learning styles, among other issues. The governor, pictured above responding to a question, opened up the question and answer session by stating “Teachers aren’t the problem. Poverty is the problem,” referring to a mass teacher lay-off in Rhode Island that has angered some educators. The governor also said the education reform bill that was recently passed authorized a commission to look at revising the education funding formula in Massachusetts, which Patrick called “broken and messed up.” Education Secretary Reville is also pictured above with Governor Patrick.