Statement from Mary Tamer, Executive Director of Democrats for Education Reform Massachusetts, on Legislation Banning the Practice of Legacy Admissions
February 7, 2024: The Joint Committee on Higher Education took a historic step today by voting legislation out of committee that would eliminate the use of legacy preferences in all higher education institutions, both public and private, in the Commonwealth. This bold step would make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to ban this unfair admissions practice in both public and private institutions, leveling the playing field for all students seeking a quality education.
The practice of legacy admissions has perpetuated inequalities in higher education for too long. It serves as a barrier to equity and opportunity, granting an unearned advantage to children of alumni – often from wealthy or well-connected families – at the expense of deserving students from diverse backgrounds.
This legislation serves as a crucial turning point, a chance for Massachusetts once again to make education history by removing a practice created solely to exclude certain students from elite institutions. By eliminating legacy preferences, we can send a message that Massachusetts values fairness and equity, not family privilege.
The following is a joint statement in response to the Attorney General’s decision to certify the ballot question that will eliminate MCAS as a high school graduation requirement from the following:
Edward M. Lambert Jr., Executive Director, Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education
Christopher Anderson, President, Massachusetts High Technology Council
Keri Rodrigues, President, National Parents Union, Massachusetts
James Stergios, Executive Director, Pioneer Institute
Mary Tamer, Executive Director, Massachusetts, Democrats for Education Reform
James E. Rooney, President & CEO, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
James Peyser, Fmr. Secretary of Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Michael Contompasis, Superintendent (ret.), Boston Public Schools
Jon Hurst, President, Retailers Association of Massachusetts
Timothy P. Murray, President & CEO, Worcester Chamber of Commerce
“While we don’t believe the ballot question that would eliminate MCAS as a high school graduation requirement meets the legal requirements for certification, our growing coalition is prepared to fight this measure and is confident that with more information about the positive outcomes the requirement has produced for all students, voters will reject it.
“MCAS has proven to be a reliable indicator of a student’s college and career readiness and eliminating it as a graduation requirement would amount to a huge step backward in the Commonwealth’s quest to ensure that all Massachusetts high school graduates acquire a basic mastery of the subject areas needed to be successful in their futures.
“Importantly, requiring students to meet a state standard to graduate high school ensures that ALL districts are setting a minimum academic standard. Eliminating the MCAS graduation requirement would leave us without a common, objective measure of achievement that all students, across all communities, are expected to meet. In its place would be more than 300 local graduation standards.
“The MCAS exam is a vital component of the 1993 education reform law that catapulted our education system to first in the nation. Passing either of these ballot questions would reverse three decades of progress for kids in every zip code, jeopardize the futures of Massachusetts high school graduates, endanger the state’s standing as a national leader in education, and put the state economy at a further competitive disadvantage.”
Education Committee to hear testimony on bills to encourage teacher diversity today.
BOSTON, MA (June 26, 2023): A new poll, released today by Education Reform Now Massachusetts (ERN MA), an affiliate of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), shows that a majority of registered voters in Boston and across the Commonwealth favor increasing teacher diversity even if that means weakening seniority rules.
Current state law prioritizes retaining teachers with “professional teacher status” during layoffs, which would disproportionately affect teachers of color, who are more likely to be earlier in their teaching career than their white counterparts as a result of recent efforts to diversify the teacher workforce. The Joint Committee on Education is holding a hearing this afternoon on bills, including H.549/ S.311, which would create ways to diversify the teacher pipeline in the Commonwealth, and H.583/S.340, which calls for school districts to consider measures beyond seniority in the event of layoffs.
The poll, which was conducted by The MassINC Polling Group and sponsored by ERN MA, asked Massachusetts voters if they would support or oppose changing seniority rules to help keep highly qualified teachers from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. 51% of Massachusetts voters and 62% of Boston voters said yes, while 38% of Massachusetts voters and 26% of Boston voters said no. Statewide, Democrats (65%-25%) and Independents (50%-38%) strongly supported this idea, while Republicans (13%-79%) opposed it. Support for this question was also stronger among non-White voters (58%-31%) than White voters (50%-39%).
Support was also strong when voters were asked if they would support changing seniority rules to keep educators who are bilingual – 60% of Massachusetts voters and 67% of Boston voters said yes, while 32% of Massachusetts voters and 22% of Boston voters said no. Again, support statewide was far stronger among Democrats (77%-16%) and Independents (56%-35%) than Republicans (31%-63%). Support was strong among White (60%-32%) and non-White (64%-26%) voters.
The poll also included questions gauging baseline support for both seniority and increasing diversity, and showed more mixed results for seniority.
Asked how much of a factor seniority should be in determining teacher layoffs, 47% of registered voters statewide said “the most important” or a “major” factor, while 49% said it should be a “minor” factor or “no factor at all.” Support was stronger among registered voters in Boston where 63% said it should be “the most important” or a “major” factor, while 33% said it should be a “minor” factor or “no factor at all.”
When asked: “How much would you support or oppose prioritizing efforts to diversify the teacher ranks across Massachusetts,” 51% of registered voters statewide and 71% in Boston said they “strongly” or somewhat” support those efforts, while 41% statewide and 22% in Boston “somewhat” or “strongly” opposed those efforts.
“These poll results show that Massachusetts voters want a commitment not just to diversifying the teaching corps, but keeping those teachers employed,” said Mary Tamer, Executive Director of DFER MA. “With the threat of layoffs looming, the legislature should work with the teachers unions, school districts, and school committees to find ways to ensure the gains made over the past few years in diversifying the teachers in our children’s classrooms doesn’t get wiped out.”
Factors including financial barriers to higher education and educator preparation programs, challenges navigating the state’s licensure system and limited public accountability of school and district efforts to recruit, support, and retain educators of color have all contributed to this gap in representation. Research shows that access to teachers of color has great benefits for students, particularly Black and Latino students.
A recent analysis by the Boston Schools Fund found enrollment declined for the eighth straight year in 2022 and is down 15.3 percent since 2014, a loss of more than 8,000 students — most of them Black students. More than 60 percent of BPS schools had a decrease in enrollment over the past five years.
Yet BPS continues to operate 125 school buildings with a capacity to serve 55,200 students — 6,900 more than are currently enrolled. Demographic trends show that Boston will need fewer schools as time goes on, not more. Underutilized buildings cost the same to run as fully enrolled schools, but BPS is operating and transporting students to — at a minimum — 16 more school buildings than it needs.
This poses fiscal, educational, and environmental challenges.
Because funding is based on enrollment, underenrolled schools have less money to pay bills and ensure students have the schoolwide resources, academic supports, and staffing they need to learn.”
In 2022 DFER spent $6.1 million to help elect 125 Democratic leaders, including six US Senators, 23 U.S. Representatives, Governors in Colorado, New York, and Connecticut, Mayor Bowser in Washington D.C., and legislative champions in 15 legislative bodies across the country.
Additionally, eight alumni of our Leaders of Color program proudly ran in the midterm elections in Louisiana, New York, and Washington, D.C, with six candidates claiming victory. Taken together, these newly elected leaders join 17 Leaders of Color who have been elected or appointed across program sites this year!
See a full summary of all DFER and ERNA-supported wins here.
Launched DFER Texas
In August, we proudly launched our newest state chapter in the Lone Star State. Last month, DFER Texas and its aligned PAC, Legacy 44 (L44), successfully won three of the four general electionraces for the Texas House, in addition to successful victories by L44 supported primary candidates in safe Democratic districts. The 2022 investments made by DFER and L44 have helped solidify and expand the bloc of pro-education reform Democrats at the Texas Capitol as we approach the next legislative session.
Protected Public School Choice
DFER co-led an effort to protect $440 million in federal funding for public charter schools serving 3.4 million students nationwide. Specifically, when anti-charter forces proposed a $40 million cut to CSP during the Appropriations process, DFER met with and mobilized key Members to restore funding to the full $440 million including influential Members on both the House Appropriations Committee, and the House and Senate Education Committees. Similarly, during the regulatory fight over proposed rules that would restrict charter access to federal funds, we met and appealed to multiple senior Biden Administration officials directly. This group effort convinced the USDOE to roll back the most harmful rules and to respond in a way that, while not optimal, is workable to ensure that high-quality charters continue to access federal funds. Furthermore, we’ve laid the groundwork to protect an additional $440 million in federal funds for next year’s (FY23) budget. DFER partner chapters in Colorado, Washington, D.C., and Connecticut all secured wins to make funding for public charter more equitable, and our teams in Massachusetts, and Louisiana defeated anti-charter legislation.
ARP Advocacy: Reports & Resources
Leveraging a report focused on understanding how states are allocating educational funds earmarked by the American Rescue Plan (ARP), ERN’s national team worked with representatives in five states to strengthen their ARP plans to better serve students. In the analysis, states were assigned a “traffic light” rating in five categories along with a composite rating. Only seven states earned the highest “green” rating, and a whopping 19 state plans were designated a concerning “red light.”
To help navigate important federal COVID relief funds—designated by ARP—ERN put together a curated toolkit, to highlight and streamline a selection of resources from a host of organizations, including ERN, that help state-level officials, families, communities, schools, and district leaders better understand how ARP education funds are being allocated. You can download the ARP Resource Document, or explore the toolkit for more information on ERN’s involvement and more.
Addressed Literacy Gaps
Following on ERN Connecticut‘s landmark “Right to Read” legislation last year, the team worked to ensure a strong ally was appointed as Director of the state’s new Center for Literacy Research and Reading Success, the hub of this statewide literacy effort. Implementation has now begun in earnest, with the release of a state-approved list of early literacy curricula, from which every public school district must choose next year. Earlier this month, Director Amy Dowell appeared on a panel on the Science of Reading with Emily Hanford, Dr. Kymyona Burk, and other leading experts.
Earlier this year, ERN D.C. successfully advocated for the passage of the “Structured Literacy Training Action Plan” into law. This legislation requires structured literacy training for D.C. Public School teachers, provides a $2,000 stipend for those who complete the training, and creates a task force to expand training and support to public charter schools. ERN D.C. also partnered with Decoding Dyslexia D.C. to hold a two-day Right to Read Literacy Conference with 17 speakers, including D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, State Superintendent Dr. Christina Grant, and Ward 2 Representative Allister Chang. As a result of the literacy conference, ERN D.C. and partners proposed several recommendations for improving literacy in the District of Columbia.
Maintained Statewide, Annual Assessments
ERN’s federal policy team led a coalition of civil rights and reform advocates that successfully lobbied the US Department of Education to prevent the issuance of blanket assessment waivers to states. In our states, ERN Colorado worked to ensure schools and districts could access necessary supports and interventions based on post-pandemic summative assessments; DFER affiliate ERN Massachusetts successfully lobbied the state’s Education Committee to reject all anti-accountability bills; and DFER affiliate ERN Louisiana fought to prevent a potential waiving of statewide graduation requirements.
To combat the misinformation that abounds when it comes to annual, summative assessments, ERN also created the Essential Assessment Toolkit: a go-to guide for families, advocates, district and school leaders, and State Education Agencies. The resources created were intended to support critical conversations on why students take an annual, summative assessment, why this assessment matters, and how districts and states can improve their assessment systems to better support student achievement.
Fought for Fairer College Admissions
In March, ERN National and our New York chapter joined New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblywoman Latrice Walker to introduce The Fair College Admissions Act (Senate Bill S8498), which is aimed at banning legacy preference and the binding early college admission policies that discriminate against racial minority, working class, and low-income students. ERN and Leaders of Color co-hosted a press conference with Senator Gounardes and Assemblywoman Walker to discuss the bill and its impact on improving access and equity in higher education, during which several Leaders of Color fellow and alumni spoke.
ERN Connecticut supported the introduction of a bill that would put an end to the practice of using legacy preferences during the college admissions process in their state. ERN CT also advanced a bill to end the withholding of college transcripts from students with debts. Last year, ERN Colorado helped make its state the first in the nation to ban legacy preference in higher education.
In addition, ERN released a series of three issue briefs identifying areas (Early Decision, Legacy Admissions, Transparency & Accountability) of the admissions process at selective colleges and universities that demand reform. Admissions reform to expand access and opportunity for underrepresented students and to increase diversity on campuses is long overdue, but it has become imperative in light of the likelihood that United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) will strike down the use of race-conscious admissions policies in its current term. The reports received coverage in USA Today, Forbes, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, NPR and Education Dive, among others.
Following the SCOTUS hearings on affirmative action, ERN hosted a debrief on the hearing, with record-setting attendance. The conversation was moderated by The Chronicle of Higher Education reporter Eric Hoover, and featured:
Marie Bigham, Founder and Executive Director, ACCEPT,
Art Coleman, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, EducationCounsel,
Genzie Bonadies Torres, Associate Director for the Educational Opportunities Project, Lawyers, Committee for Human Rights under Civil Law,
Michaele Turnage Young, Senior Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and
James Murphy, Senior Policy Analyst, Education Reform Now.
Advocated for Resource Equity
One big highlight of ERN’s work to address resource equity comes from ERN D.C. who successfully advocated for the passage of three pivotal bills:
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson included two new concentration at-risk weights in the per student funding formula for a total of $10.4 million in recurring funding for D.C. Public Schools and public charter schools that serve high populations of students furthest from opportunity.
ERN D.C. successfully advocated for the passage of the “Uniform Per Student Funding Formula Adequacy Study” into law, which studies the costs and expenses associated with operating D.C. Public Schools, and public charter schools, included and excluded from the per student funding formula.
ERN D.C. advocated for ways to retain educators in the District. This work culminated in the passage of the Educators Housing Incentive Amendment Act of 2022, which expands a current homeowner financial assistance program to educators.
Hosted 7th Philos Conference
Last month, over 180 policymakers, advocates, donors, and reporters attended ERN’s seventh Philos Conference in Washington, D.C. This year’s theme, “Leading Forward: From Crisis to Opportunity,” challenged attendees to take action to turn the crisis of the pandemic and the longtime crisis of inequity in our education system into opportunity for students.
Honorees included:
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser
National Urban League President Marc Morial
National Parents Union Founder and President Keri Rodrigues
U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres, and
Massachusetts Representative Chynah Tyler.
Panelists included U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein, DGA Executive Director Noam Lee, New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks, D.C. Superintendent Dr. Christina Grant, and CT Senator Patricia Billie Miller.
Above (left to right): Politico Reporter Juan Perez, Jr., CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein, DGA Executive Director Noam Lee, Impact Research Principal Molly Murphy, and Voto Latino Vice President Kenny Sandoval. Below (Clockwise from top left):New York City Public Schools Chancellor David Banks, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, Washington, D.C., State Superintendent Dr. Christina Grant, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley.
Leaders of Color
To date, Education Reform Now’s Leaders of Color program has grown to include:
210 alumni of the program
82 leaders in non-elected positions of influence
26 Fellows appointed to community / non-profit boards
34 Fellows involved in active advocacy campaigns
6 Fellows who have founded own non-profits
Leaders of Color 2022 Advocacy Highlights:
Leaders of Color D.C.: Charter parent and Leaders of Color D.C. alumna LaJoy Johnson-Law worked in collaboration with Vice President Harris to expand broadband access to over 11.5 million low-income households.
Leaders of Color Louisiana: Alumni led a successful initiative for a new property tax measure that will fund pre-K at $20 million over the next five years and create more than 1,000 early childhood seats for children from low-income families.
Leaders of Color New York: Alumna Natasha Cherry-Perez led a project to inform, train, and support over 400 parents who are a part of the New York State Charter Parent Council to meet with and promote charters to elected officials across the state; testify at City Council and State hearings; and send close to 30 letters to NYS Regents (and counting) in support of charters. Additionally, Cherry-Perez’s group registered 140 voters.
Leaders of Color Memphis: Among many achievements, alums Sheleah Harris and Frank Johnson both fought for public school choice by voting against the closure of four charter schools in Memphis, keeping the schools open.
“The failure of the Boston Public Schools to provide a quality education to tens of thousands of Boston’s children has lasted for decades. The depth of the dysfunction was chronicled in detail in the latest state audit of the system.
“The district has failed to effectively serve its most vulnerable students, carry out basic operational functions, and address systemic barriers to providing an equitable, quality education,” the state concluded.
Now the question comes: What will be done about it? At the moment, the city is spending all its energy trying to fend off a state takeover. Meanwhile, the state is tiptoeing around how intrusive it needs to be in the operation of a badly broken school system.”
“THANKS TO A windfall of $1.8 billion in the latest round of federal COVID relief funding intended to help schools recover from the last two years of interrupted learning, we have an historic opportunity to transform public education in Massachusetts.
Yet millions of federal dollars sit untapped in the state’s coffers, and if funds aren’t used by 2024, they expire. Unless there are plans set in motion – today – for this money to support students, we will continue to deny them the education they deserve after two of the most challenging years of their lives.
This isn’t an opportunity to be squandered, especially when decades of data prove that Massachusetts should not rest on its laurels of topping national lists for educational outcomes. The most valuable lesson of the pandemic may be the need for greater urgency in addressing the stark and disparate outcomes for students of color, low-income students, English learners, and students with disabilities across our great state.”
“For the last two decades, I’ve survived thousands of my children’s homework assignments.
Some of the more creative ones held not only their attention, but mine. I fondly recall a third-grade project to create a diorama of the Museum of Science’s Theater of Electricity, reimagined with a styrofoam ball, Model Magic, and paper clips turned into “electric” zigzags.
Others, like the numerous word searches favored by one eighth-grade science teacher, did little beyond creating 45 minutes of nightly frustration.
We took the good assignments with the bad, and often lamented during the high school years how much time was spent — to the detriment of sleep and socialization — on homework.”
Read the rest of Mary Tamer’s positioning on the issue, and the rest of the article, in The Boston Globe.
Democrats for Education Reform Announces New State Director for Massachusetts
Mary Tamer Tapped for Her Commitment to Educational Equity
APRIL 4, 2022 – Democrats for Education Reform announced today that Mary Tamer has been named the next State Director for DFER Massachusetts and its affiliate Education Reform Now Massachusetts. Tamer is a longtime education advocate and Democratic activist who is a product of the Boston Public Schools, a former BPS parent, and a past member of the Boston School Committee.
Tamer will lead the chapter’s mission to develop a student-centered policy agenda rooted in educational equity and excellence. The most pressing opportunities and challenges include amplifying issues faced by historically marginalized and underserved students, elevating several key pieces of legislation such as universal pre-k, expansion of early college programs, and support for charter public schools, and fighting for improved education for all students and families – including those impacted by the pandemic.
“Mary brings a broad base of experience and passion for this critical work, including her four-years on the Boston School Committee under Mayor Menino, where she helped pass a new weighted student funding formula so each student would be funded based on their unique needs rather than a static level of funding, and led the first Inclusion Task Force to oversee the district’s efforts to expand high-quality inclusive options for more than 12,000 Boston Public Schools students with disabilities, among other achievements” said DFER National President Shavar Jeffries. “At the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, Mary launched an online application that tripled the number of applications to Boston’s charter schools to 35,000—increasing access to families across the city. She has a demonstrated dedication to educational equity, and we look forward to her continued leadership on behalf of Massachusetts’ students.”
Prior to joining DFER, she worked for SchoolFacts Boston as the Education Research Director conducting reviews and leading dissemination of key metrics related to the Boston Public Schools, including oversight of the $1.3B budget, enrollment trends, and student outcomes and opportunities, with a primary focus on low-income populations, students of color, students with disabilities, and English learners.
Tamer ran as a first-time Boston City Council District 6 candidate in 2021, raising more than $185,000 and receiving more than 11,000 votes in the highly competitive race.
Tamer is the daughter of an Arabic-speaking English Learner, the sister of a high school dropout, and a Boston Public School student eligible for free lunch during Boston’s desegregation efforts, all of which shaped her worldview as well as her deliberate path toward education equity. Her two children also attended Boston Public Schools.
“My family’s lived experience within Boston Public Schools some decades ago, and more recently, is all-too relevant today—whether in Boston or across our Gateway Cities—as we continue to see disparate outcomes, treatment, and classification for students of color, low-income students, English Learners, and students with disabilities,” said Tamer. “The urgent need to address these stark disparities and inequities will drive my service as DFER’s State Director, where my professional, policymaking, and political experience will serve as a catalyst for constructive change for students and families across the state.”
About Democrats for Education Reform Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) is a national political organization that supports elected Democrats and candidates for office who seek to expand policies and practices that increase educational equity for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. It is affiliated with Education Reform Now, a non-partisan, nonprofit think tank and advocacy organization that promotes increased resources and innovative reforms in K-16 public education.
