Rep. Sciortino Attend National Education Conference

Meets with Senior Education Department Staff, Education Secretary Arne Duncan

State Representative Carl Sciortino (D-Medford, Somerville), second from right, recently attended a national education conference. Courtesy photo.

Last week, Representative Carl Sciortino (D-Medford) attended the U.S. Department of Education’s State Legislator Conference, giving him the opportunity to meet with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and other senior federal education officials.

The conference included sessions on topics such as the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, early childhood education, school improvement grants, higher education, and vocational education, with presentations by federal officials as well as legislator Q&A. There were also separate sessions with both Deputy Secretary Tony Miller and Secretary Duncan.

“I enjoyed the opportunity to discuss education policy with federal education officials, as well as legislative leaders from around the country,” said Rep. Sciortino “Communities across the nation are facing similar challenges when it comes to closing the achievement gap and adequately funding public education. We can learn from each others’ challenges and innovation in order to create the most effective policy.”

This year, the legislature passed an education reform bill targeting the achievement gap between schools that gave power to superintendents to turn around underperforming schools and districts, and increased the number of charter schools allowed in the state. Sciortino played an important role shaping that legislation, passing amendments on student mobility and charter school account holdings. He ultimately voted against the bill, as he felt it did not go far enough in addressing the achievement gap.

“It was especially interesting to hear about plans to reauthorize the ESEA, which of course is known in its most recent form as No Child Left Behind. This is legislation that will affect the way that schools operate all over the country, and I wanted to make sure to be a voice against high-stakes testing such as MCAS as the preferred assessment measure for student and school performance.” Sciortino filed a bill this session to incorporate other assessment tools when determining students’ graduation eligibility instead of using the MCAS as the exclusive determinant.

The conference was held at the U.S. Department of Education’s Washington headquarters and was attended by education committee staff from state and federal administrations. Sciortino was invited through the Young Elected Officials Network, of which he is the Massachusetts state director.

– Information from Rep. Sciortino’s office