By Bob Katzen

“For so many residents, life and finances get in the way of completing a credential. This pilot brings residents guidance and support to return to college, grow their skills and complete the degree they once started.”
—Secretary of Education Dr. Patrick Tutwiler announcing a new pilot program to re-engage some 766,000 students who previously began, but did not complete, degrees and certificates at the state’s public colleges and universities. The program includes direct student outreach and coaching provided by ReUp Education at six institutions: Bunker Hill Community College, Cape Cod Community College, Greenfield Community College, MassBay Community College, Fitchburg State University and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Continue reading THIS WEEK’S QUOTABLE QUOTES ON BEACON HILL →

By Bob Katzen

The Education Committee’s hearing also included legislation that would require public schools to pay substitute teachers 85 percent of what schools pay a beginning teacher who holds a bachelor’s degree; or the state’s current $15 per hour minimum wage – whichever is greater.
Continue reading ESTABLISH MINIMUM PAY FOR SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS (H 580) →

By Bob Katzen

Another bill heard by the Education Committee would create a School Supplies for Teachers Program to provide financial and technical assistance to eligible teachers who purchase school supplies online, for their students or themselves, and pay out of their own pocket.

Continue reading PROVIDE FUNDS TO TEACHERS WHO PURCHASE SCHOOL SUPPLIES ONLINE (H 675/S 448) →

By Bob Katzen

The Education Committee held a hearing on a proposal that would give veterans an extra 5 points on the education licensing exam which must be taken by anyone applying for a teacher’s license.
Continue reading GIVE VETERANS AN EXTRA 5 POINTS ON TEACHER LICENSING EXAMS (H 570) →

By Bob Katzen

The House gave initial approval to a measure that would exempt situations when a person contracts a latent disease from asbestos-related or other toxic material exposure arising from property improvements, from the current statute of limitations, which limits the time period during which the person can file a lawsuit.
Continue reading STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR VICTIMS OF ASBESTOS-RELATED DISEASES (H 4676) →

By Bob Katzen

The House gave initial approval to legislation that would prohibit the state, the MBTA and cities and towns from constructing “hostile architecture” that supporters of the ban say targets the homeless and tries to push them out of certain areas. The bill defines hostile architecture as “any building or structure that is designed or intended to prevent unhoused individuals from sitting or lying on the building or structure at street level.”
Continue reading BAN HOSTILE ARCHITECTURE THAT TARGETS THE HOMELESS (H 3307) →

By Bob Katzen

Gov. Maura Healey signed into law legislation that would expand the current law which punishes anyone who commits assault and battery against a public employee including police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel. The bill ensures that all transit workers are covered, including those who are not directly employed by the state, such as workers employed by Keolis, the state’s contracted commuter rail operator. The bill would also add “assault and battery by means of a bodily substance including saliva, blood or urine” to the current law.
Continue reading PROTECT ALL PUBLIC TRANSIT WORKERS FROM ASSAULT AND BATTERY (S 2697) →

By Bob Katzen

The Healey Administration announced that the Trump Administration, after a month-long delay, released federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and that all applications can now be processed. LIHEAP is a federal program, referred to as the Massachusetts Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) in Massachusetts, that helps more than 150,000 Massachusetts households, representing over 300,000 people, afford to heat their homes during the winter each year.
Continue reading HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE →