Secretary Tutwiler Delivers Massachusetts 2025 State of Education Address
Healey-Driscoll Administration is focused on affordable child care, teaching kids to read, strengthening public education, reimagining high school, mental health supports, improving access and success in higher education
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Secretary of Education Dr. Patrick Tutwiler delivered remarks today on the State of Education at the annual Rennie Center’s Summit. Secretary Tutwiler reflected on the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s progress on transforming our education systems to be more affordable, accessible, and equitable for all students, reaffirmed the administration’s values and outlined priorities for the year ahead.
“In Massachusetts, we have a long history of educational excellence. Everything we are doing today is because of our commitment to carry this educational excellence into the future. We will continue to lead the way in making sure our schools reflect our communities and our values. Our students deserve nothing less,” said Secretary Tutwiler.
Early Education and Care
Last year, the administration announced its ‘Gateway to Pre-k’ agenda that focuses on the three pillars that are most important for promoting affordable, accessible and equitable early education and child care. This year, the administration is committed to maintaining this progress and expanding its impact by:
- Supporting the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI) grantees to maintain and expand universally accessible pre-k access, adding more classrooms and affordable seats.
- Expanding CPPI to allow new communities to join, with a focus on gateway cities and rural areas, with the long-term goal for children to have access across all cities and towns.
- Funding the Child Care Financial Assistance Programs at $1.1 billion to help families pay for care, especially for those working with the Department of Children and Families and the Department of Transitional Assistance.
Secretary Tutwiler shared a story of Tabitha Williams, the owner of Ashley’s Preschool and Daycare in Salem, who has been able to use CPPI funds to provide private-pay families with discounted tuition. One family was able to use the money they saved on tuition to pay for swim lessons for their child and obtain a pass for museums. Their child had been having difficulties and this level of affordability allowed them to engage in other activities that helped them blossom. The child was able to do more and better interact with their peers.
Early Literacy
Data continues to show that students are struggling to read, which is why last year the administration launched Literacy Launch, a multiyear strategy to promote high-quality, evidence-based reading instruction so students can read and read well. Literacy Launch provides access to high-quality, evidence-based reading instruction through literacy materials, technical support, coaching and professional development for educators.
This year, the administration wants to expand this work by proposing $50 million for early literacy funding. That includes $25 million for the second year of Literacy Launch and $25 million for an early literacy high dosage tutoring initiative. This initiative will support Massachusetts public schools and districts to partner with approved providers to address pandemic-related learning loss and accelerate literacy growth for 10,000 students in kindergarten through grade 3, with 1st graders prioritized. In tandem with Literacy Launch, this will support early literacy tutoring services, screening assessments and foundational skills-focused tutoring services.
Secretary Tutwiler shared a story from his visit to Clinton Elementary School earlier in the fall with Governor Healey, where 4th grade students talked about the impact of DESE’s Appleseeds grant program that provides materials for teaching foundational reading skills and inspired Literacy Launch. One student, Emily Brunelle, shared that sometimes she struggled with reading, but the Appleseeds lessons helped her learn phonics, which in turn enabled her to decode many, many words. Now, Emily expresses that reading helps her learn a lot at school, and that she loves to read not just at school but also in her spare time. Emily’s classmate, Femi Obutu, shared that Appleseeds helped him become a reader because he discovered that it was fun and that he loved learning the sounds. Now he reports that he knows so many more sounds and can read chapter books. Someday, when he is a football player, he’ll tell kids how important it is to read.
Local Education Funding
The Healey-Driscoll Administration recognizes that school districts are facing increased costs and high inflation. The last two years, the administration has fully funded the chapter 70 increases under the Student Opportunity Act. To build on this progress and make sure that districts get some relief, especially regional districts and those in rural communities, the administration’s budget proposes to:
- Invest the highest amount ever into the Special Education Circuit Breaker to address the growth of both special education instructional and transportation costs, fully funding it at $682 million.
- Increase education transportation reimbursement by $21 million, supporting regional school transportation at $116 million and non-resident pupil transportation (vocational) at $6.2 million.
- Provide a minimum aid rate of $75 per pupil.
Secretary Tutwiler shared how he had an opportunity to sit down with 20 students from the Northampton Youth Commission last year to talk about their experience and that of their peers. They were clear: funding gaps for communities like theirs are having an impact, not just on experience but on things that they believe are fundamental to their growth, to their development, and to their success.
Reimagining High School
This administration has been focused on reimagining the high school experience – ensuring Massachusetts students are prepared for college or careers when they graduate high school. To stay competitive, students need to be prepared for today’s workforce and skills – and tomorrow’s. That’s why the administration proposed $40 million across early college, innovation career pathways, and career technical education programs, and an additional $32.5 million over several years to reach more students in each of these programs.
Right now, Massachusetts has an opportunity to bring the definition of what it means to graduate from high school to new heights. Governor Healey established a Massachusetts K-12 Statewide Graduation Council, bringing together diverse stakeholders to examine how our state can ensure that all students graduate with the skills necessary to succeed, regardless of their background or location, and demonstrate these qualities through a consistent statewide set of expectations.
Student Mental Health
The country is facing a youth mental health crisis that has manifested in many ways and requires a multitude of responses. The administration got to work reducing chronic absenteeism so that students were in school getting access to the education opportunities they need and other supports like universal school meals. The Governor’s budget also proposes almost $21 million this year for mental and social-emotional health student supports.
The administration is also working to develop a early education through higher education mental health framework for students across Massachusetts. This framework will inform a statewide education strategy for mental and behavioral health supports and promote coordination between early education and care programs, schools, students, families, and the state’s systems of community-based services and providers.
Higher Education
The administration has been focused on seeing that all students can access post-secondary opportunities and persist through to graduation. Under the Healey-Driscoll Administration, state funding for financial aid has doubled, making community college free and four-year institutions more affordable. The Governor’s budget proposes to maintain these historic expansions, which led to a preliminary 24% increase in community college enrollment over the last two years and the first growth in enrollment for Massachusetts’ public four-year campuses in over a decade. For the first time, the state also expanded SUCCESS funding to Massachusetts’ nine state universities that is already available at community colleges to support students graduating.
The Secretary shared the story of Karen Araujo and her family, who last August were losing hope she’d be able to attend Framingham State University in the fall. Karen aspired to be the first in her family to go to college, but the nearly $13,000 bill for the fall semester was out of reach. But with MassGrant Plus, her bill for the semester ended up being less than a third of the initial price tag, at $3,600. In her words: “My parents have worked hard all of my life, but college is expensive... Before we knew it, I was a senior, and I was figuring out how to fill out a college application.” Then came the bill, and the worry. But, with the financial support from MassGrant Plus, she told us that “all of the stress melted away.” She has been able to avoid taking out student loans, and if this level of financial aid continues, she may graduate debt-free. “College is not easy, but it’s worth it,” she said. “Don’t give up on your dreams.”
As enrollment increases, it’s important that students are going into modern, green and innovative spaces that set them up for success in today’s workforce. That’s why Governor Healey filed the BRIGHT Act, the largest proposed infrastructure investments in Massachusetts’ public higher education system in decades to transform the UMass system, state universities, and community colleges. Over the next 10 years, this will modernize campuses, including new labs, classrooms and improved mental health facilities – to ensure Massachusetts’ public higher education system can best serve students and keep the state economically competitive.
A full version of Secretary Tutwiler’s remarks can be found here.
