Blue Mass Group

Dear Friends,

As the summer comes to an end most parents, including me and my wife, are getting ready for another school year and all that it entails.  Whether it is PTA meetings, after school activities, sports, homework, or making good grades, we all know that the school year has its own challenges.  With that said, I wanted to reach out to let you know that the Patrick-Murray Administration has been working hard to provide the best educational opportunities for our kids so they can be successful Massachusetts residents in the future.

Through the hard work of many, especially our educators, Massachusetts has a strong record of leading the nation in education from early education through higher education.  But what does that exactly mean?

Here are a few numbers that will put our education system in perspective, Massachusetts is currently:

• 1^st in percentage of 4^th grade and 8^th grade students scoring proficient of higher in NAEP Reading Exams (the “Nation’s Report Card”
• 1^st in Science and Engineering Readiness Index (SERI), which measure how high school students are performing in Physics and Calculus
• 4^th in percentage of the class of 2011 scoring a 3 or higher on AP exams during high school
• 1^st in ALEC National Report Card Rankings
• 1^st in percentage of population with an associate’s, bachelor’s, and graduate degrees.

As you can see, with record-setting investments in education and schools that support our kids and teachers, we see positive results that benefit all residents of the Commonwealth.  We know there is still more work to do though.  We are focusing on closing the achievement gap and working with local districts to improve underperforming schools.  Our work with the Obama Administration and their Race to the Top program is helping us with this important work and we are confident we will continue to make great progress.

As always, thank you for your support on this and other important Patrick-Murray initiatives.

Sincerely,

Tim Murray

Lieutenant Governor