Secretary Peyser at MASBO's Annual Institute

Peyser: "I did learn something already this morning: MASBO good; mandates bad."
apologize for the Teachgate scandal: "who named that company, anyway?"
"I apologize for anything bad that has ever happened in the past..."
"the rubber hits the road in schools and in school districts"
best policy won't produce good schools
"thousands of actions at the local level..made a meaningful and lasting difference" in education
"I'm planning to talk somewhat more broadly" about financing (beyond K-12)
new administration, new Senate president, new UMass president, foundation budget
"we now are in a moment that is ripe for re-evaluating status quo"
"making the whole greater than the sum of the parts"
overlapping agencies at multiple levels: fragmentation
breaking down silos across public education
greater regional connections pre-k through college
education, labor, econ development
valuing results over compliance
"too often the rules of the road" overcome, become bureaucratic governance
comprehensive agency review across the entire administration: clear metrics across the departments
"refocus on holding ourselves and others accountable"
moving to "paying for performance"
"delivering results and taking them to larger scale"
"perpetuating the status quo" doesn't deal with changing circumstances
state government share information, provide support
transparency, predictability
avoiding "unexpected volitity" in finance
"not promising more than we can deliver

Greater alignment and even merging (?) between preK, K-12, college
all should have foundation funding
K-12 don't have all the answers
PreK and college have pay for quality; K-12 should
"further investment in success"
"long term affortability of the whole"
connect separate funding streams of PreK, K-12, college
"forced to make some very tough choices and trade offs"
rethink approach to thinking and learning
"same basic educational model that's been in place for well over a century"
"new models of teaching and learning at all levels"
restructure the way in which we structure state grant proposals
"come to see them as general revenues"
"pour energy" into advocacy instead of incorporating funding
"not producing transformative change at scale"
"doing good is not good enough"
Partnerships Schools Network
and we're just getting the argument the Governor Baker made about the grant merger
"perhaps the biggest obstacle" is in moving from grants that were planned on
looking to work with MASBO on such things

Q, Pat Murphy: role in reviewing mandates?
done with DESE, others within admin
Q: view on expansion of charter schools and how it supports public ed
"I'm a charter school supporter, and I believe we need more of them"
Massachusetts charter schools, "I think...there's no way to deny the fact that they are providing great results for the children they serve"
"not making nearly the kind of progress we have to for the children in those community"
"can't afford to leave any assets behind"
should be funded the way that charter schools are (in that money should follow child)
"I think we need to understand better...how districts can effectively reallocate resources...down to the school level"
"reallocate and restructure resources in changing" enrollment
Q; concerned about "success happening at the school level"
don't have a change to offer our inside persepective
policy makers" reviewing their own stuff"
Peyser: "maybe there is a way of incorporating more feedback from the field"
perspective of a "customer"
perspective: Holyoke charter school "was white flight" choice
Peyser disagrees with assessment of the demographic of Holyoke charter school
asks why school choice doesn't work same way as charter school funding
Peyser: "very much would like to look at that"
vision of funding?
Peyser: some preference for districts or schools that are producing "high quality results"
Q: competitive disadvantage: parents who are involved choose
"I believe in fair play"
Peyser: don't believe that we should impose restraints of districts on charters
Lawrence: reduces work rules, allows competative disadvantages
"need to relax and reduce constraints"
Peyser: "Charlie Baker personally wants to do everything he can to reduce those burdens"
"want to be as aggressive and supportive as we possibly can"
Note from Holyoke that a child leaving does not lose an equivalent funding
Peyser: "you don't get rid of teacher because you've lost two children in a classroom"
"reimbursement formula is extremely generous" (oh, really?)
"reasonable to expect districts" given state funding to reorganize around students lost
essentially, that was a "given the amount of money we give you, you should be able to work it out"
Q about Sturgis (charter on the Cape)
Peyser: the extent that there is any evidence of screening or counseling out
"if this is parent choice, then that's one of the benefits of charters"
if there are parental barriers, "that's something we need to work on addressing"