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星期四, 4月 28, 2016

White House Taking Action to Help More Americans Manage Student Debt

Taking Action to Help More Americans Manage Student Debt

“I’m only here because this country gave me a chance through education.  We are here today because we believe that in America, no hardworking young person should be priced out of a higher education.  This country has always made a commitment to put a good education within the reach of young people willing to work for it.”
– President Barack Obama, Remarks on College Affordability, June 9, 2014

Higher education is one of the most important investment individuals can make for themselves and for our country. Today, 11 of the 15 fastest-growing occupations require a postsecondary education. That’s why the President has made historic investments to help millions of Americans afford college by doubling investments in grant and scholarship aid through Pell grants and tax credits, keeping interest rates low on federal student loans, and creating better options to help borrowers manage debt after college like the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) plan.

As detailed in a new post on student debt trends and state-by-state data being released by the Council of Economic Advisers, we are seeing these efforts pay off. More students are graduating college than ever before. More than four of five Direct Loan recipients with loans in repayment are current on their loans. Delinquencies, defaults, and hardship deferments are all trending downward, with nearly three million borrowers successfully accessing a pathway out of default through loan rehabilitation since 2010. And more students are taking action on their student debt when they need support, with nearly five million Direct Loan borrowers taking advantage of repayment options like the President’s PAYE plan, which caps monthly student loan payments at 10 percent of income, up from 700,000 enrolled in 2011.

Many students access student loans to help finance their education; typically, that investment pays off, with bachelor’s degree recipients earning $1 million more in their lifetime and associate’s degree recipients earning $360,000 more, compared to their high school counterparts. But for some, burdensome student loan debt can present a challenge as they seek to start a career, raise a family, purchase a home, start a business, or save for retirement.

Guaranteeing strong consumer protections and building a system of high-quality customer service are important components of a federal student loan system that expands college opportunity and provides reassurance to American families that pursuing a college degree and responsibly borrowing to pay for college will not threaten their future financial security.

Today, the White House is announcing new actions and highlighting the progress already made to help ensure the more than 40 million Americans with student loan debt understand their repayment options and access high-quality customer service, strong consumer protections, and targeted support to repay their student debt successfully. 

New Actions on Student Debt

Over the past few years, the Administration has stepped up efforts to ensure that flexible repayment options are available to support Americans with federal student debt. Today’s actions build on that progress and provide a roadmap to guide and support borrowers as they seek to manage and repay their debt successfully:

·         New Goal to Enroll 2 million More Borrowers in Plans like Pay As You Earn (PAYE). The President’s PAYE and related income-driven repayment plans are available to help borrowers who may be struggling to manage their debt effectively. Yet, too many borrowers still do not know about this important option. Leveraging key improvements in loan servicing and customer service, better tools and resources, targeted outreach to borrowers, and partnerships with key external organizations under the Student Debt Challenge, the Administration is announcing a new goal to enroll two million more borrowers in plans like PAYE by this time next year.

·         Launch of StudentLoans.gov/Repay. To help borrowers easily navigate the complexity of student loan repayment options, the U.S. Digital Service and the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid have launched StudentLoans.gov/Repay to help drive students to their best repayment option in five steps or less. Built mobile-first, and using human-centered design, StudentLoans.gov/Repay was designed to make repayment information as easy to understand as possible.

·         Strengthening Consumer Protections through New Standards for Student Loan Servicing. The Department of Education and Department of the Treasury - after consulting with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and their work with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and other state attorneys’ general - have developed clear student loan borrower rights and protections in three key areas: (1) providing accurate and actionable information about account features, borrower protections, and loan terms; (2) establishing a clear set of expectations for minimum requirements for communication and services provided by student loan servicers, including adequate and timely customer service; and (3) holding servicers accountable for fixing errors, being responsive to borrowers, and resolving problems by ensuring that borrowers, federal and state agencies and regulators, and law enforcement officials have access to appropriate channels of recourse when violations of federal or state consumer financial laws occur. The Department of Education will ensure all borrowers with federal Direct Loans can rely on high-quality service in line with these standards and protections. The Department of Education will implement this effort as part of its new vision for servicing student loans.   

·         Better Information to Help Borrowers Take Action on their Debt: CFPB Prototype Student Loan Payback Playbook. The CFPB is seeking comment on a new set of student loan servicing disclosures—a student loanPayback Playbook – that provides borrowers personalized information to better understand their repayment options and find a monthly payment they can afford. To help borrowers choose the best repayment plan with the most up-to-date information based on their circumstances, borrowers would see a plain language Playbook on their monthly bill, in regular email communications from their student loan servicer, or when they log into their student loan account. The Department of Education, working with the CFPB, will be finalizing and implementing these disclosures for federal loans borrowers.

·         Ensuring Effective Student Loan Counseling. The Department of Education will work to improve the timing and content of current loan counseling efforts, including statutorily required entrance and exit counseling, to help students make better borrowing decisions, increase college completion, promote successful loan repayment, and reduce delinquencies and defaults. Specifically, the Department will upgrade and redesign its Entrance and Exit Counseling tools on StudentLoans.gov – which serves 6.5 million students a year – based on user analytics and direct input from more than 500 borrowers, financial aid administrators, policymakers, and higher education organizations. The Department is also developing a loan counseling experiment to rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of different counseling tools and the impact of offering borrowers more frequent information and guidance beyond the statutorily required one-time entrance and one-time exit counseling.

·         Leveraging Research to Drive Better Student Outcomes. The Department of Education will pilot Advancing Insights through Data (AID), a research partnership program that will offer other federal agencies and affiliated researchers data access to conduct research that can inform and advance policies and practices that support students’ postsecondary success and strengthen repayment outcomes for borrowers. Starting with Federal Reserve Board researchers this fall, the program will allow experts to apply to securely access and match administrative student aid data files with other survey and administrative data, while ensuring safeguards are in place to protect the privacy of students and families. AID builds on the Administration’s recent efforts to leverage government data in ways that can improve service delivery, promote transparency, and strengthen accountability, particularly through the College Scorecard, which includes the most comprehensive, reliable data ever published on students’ post-college earnings and repayment outcomes. The Department is also exploring future opportunities for new research partnerships.

·         Modernizing Credit Reporting for Student Loans To Ensure Fair Treatment Of BorrowersThe Department of Education and the Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the CFPB, are working collaboratively with the credit reporting industry to develop guidance for servicers, lenders, and others who furnish data to the credit bureaus to determine how best to report student loan data so that it is fair, consistent, and accurately reflects repayment activity. This effort is another critical part of the Department’s new vision for servicing student loans.   

·         Over 40 new student debt challenge takers. Earlier this month, the White House issued a call to action for colleges, universities, non-profits, businesses, state and local governments, and other employers to help more borrowers better understand their options, and to take action to enroll those borrowers in PAYE and related plans so they can manage their monthly payments and avoid delinquency and default. Today, we are highlighting a growing list of commitments from organizations working to inform their employees and members about PAYE and related plans, train human resources (HR) staff on the importance of helping borrowers understand their student loan repayment options and the steps individuals must take to enroll, and use digital platforms to highlight PAYE and related plans. In the few short weeks since the Debt Challenge was launched, there have been over 40 commitment makers, and we are encouraging more colleges, businesses, non-profits to take action. As of April 26, the list of commitments includes:

o   ACCESS College Foundation
o   AFSCME
o   Achieving the Dream
o   American Student Assistance
o   American Sustainable Business Council
o   California State University, Long Beach
o   California Association of Nonprofits
o   The Century Foundation
o   College Advising Corps
o   College Forward
o   College Greenlight
o   Dyersburg State Community College
o   Florida International University
o   Friendship Public Charter School
o   Indiana University
o   Iowa State University
o   Jobs for the Future
o   Lake Area Technical Institute
o   Lone Star College
o   Marcus Foster Education Institute
o   Marks and Associates
o   Montana State University Bozeman
o   Morgan State University
o   National Housing Resource Center
o   Natixis Global Asset Management
o   New Haven Promise
o   Operation HOPE, Inc.
o   Parkway School District
o   Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District
o   Rutgers University - Newark
o   Tennessee Technological University
o   University of Pittsburgh
o   University of Memphis
o   University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville
o   The Institute for College Access and Success
o   The State University of New York
o   University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
o   University of Northern Iowa
o   United Tribes Technical College
o   Valencia College
o   Young Invincibles

In addition, several organizations are committing to take additional action:

·         Civic Nation, in partnership with the digital agency, HUGE, has expanded their Up Next guidance and reminder tool to include information about income driven repayment options. Up Next will send text notifications to individuals who sign up to remind them about their loan repayment options and to provide guidance on how to sign up for different repayment plans. 
·         College Forward will coach 6,000 plus motivated, underserved students to achieve the benefits of higher education and a college degree. They will educate the students they serve about the benefits of loan repayment options like PAYE and refer them to the resources available at financialaidtoolkit.ed.gov. College Forward will also recruit 80 plus recent college graduates through the AmeriCorps program to serve as mentors within their program.
·         Fidelity Investments has taken action to support employees with student debt and is piloting new solutions to better educate and empower student borrowers. This January, Fidelity Investments® announced a new employee benefit called the Step Ahead Student Loan assistance program, which provides eligible employees with more than six months of tenure $2,000 dollars per year toward their student loans (up to $10,000 dollars) and since its launch has enrolled 5,000 Fidelity associates who are receiving payments – saving a total of $1.5 million in interest and principal in the first month alone. Building on this work, Fidelity will pilot programs to better educate borrowers by aggregating all their loans in one place, show the best strategies to pay them down; educate borrowers on various repayment options including PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness); and frame student loans in the context of other financial priorities, such as retirement.
·         Houston Community College (HCC) will use its team of financial coaches to hold workshops and one-on-one financial coaching sessions for current students and borrowers who have completed or left college to assist them with understanding student loan repayment options and help guide the students with taking advantage of the repayment options such as PAYE. HCC will also work to support student loan repayment on campus and in the local community through outreach to employees, parents, and community members.
·         National Housing Resource Center (NHRC) will train 500 housing counselors to help student loan borrowers qualify for income-driven repayment plans, by conducting a national training program for nonprofit housing counselors. The housing counselors will be able to work with their prepurchase, loss mitigation, and financial assistance clients and help them identify the appropriate plan.
·         Nerd Wallet pledges to promote the use of income-driven repayment options when appropriate to the three million consumers that use their website monthly to make and manage financial decisions. Through easy-to-follow articles and free tools, NerdWallet breaks downs the basics of the plans, who they're best for and how to enroll in them to ease the burden of student loan debt.
·         Rite Aid commits to inform and assist their 90,000 associates, including 12,000 pharmacists, with strong financial planning support, including ensuring awareness of programs, like Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE). Rite Aid will inform their employees of their ability to enroll in PAYE through their pay stubs twice a year, link to the PAYE website on their internal communications portal where their associates can access information about the program, and include messaging about financial assistance programs, like PAYE, in their company’s human resources newsletters and communications.    
·         Student Debt Crisis will continue their student loan education by conducting student loan trainings for more than 2,000 professionals through the National Housing Resource Center. They will also work with CalNonprofits to help them build out a student debt program educating between 400 and 1,000 nonprofit professionals about repayment options and public service loan forgiveness who can help spread the word. Student Debt Crisis plans to conduct a series of webinars to reach more than 800,000 people within their membership network.
·         The Center for American Progress, working in partnership with Generation Progress and Higher Ed, Not Debt, has educated their employees about the benefits of these programs for the last two years.  As part of the challenge they will educate, engage, and mobilize Americans – including their own employees – around the issue of income-driven repayment plans, beginning on $1T Day, the national day which marks student debt surpassing one trillion dollars. These efforts will include social media chats and in-person events, starting with a D.C. event with policy experts. Additionally, CAP, GP, and HEND will work with partner organizations to host webinars and workshops. Altogether, these efforts can reach 5,000 people.
·         The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) will contact the more than 100,000 subscribers to their website, share information with their social media networks to remind them about income-driven repayment plans and encourage them to help spread the word to others.
·         The State University of New York has committed to spreading the word to their nearly 1.4 million students and employees about income driven repayment options through regular information sharing, debt management counseling for at risk students, and through their new SUNY Re-Enroll to Complete program which encourages recently withdrawn students to return and finish their degrees.
·         The University of California commits to regularly informing its more than 246,000 students and 200,000 faculty and staff about income driven repayment options and public service loan forgiveness through its regular contacts, as well as by sending additional information to the main campus alumni relations offices, student services staff, and the system’s human resources professionals.
·         YI Advisors, the social impact arm of Young Invincibles, commits to piloting a new technology platform to help students and borrowers 1) better understand their student loan debt; 2) compare government repayment options including PAYE, and other plans; 3) get reminders about recertification and application deadlines; and 4) get help enrolling in PAYE and other income-driven repayment plans and programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness that are currently under-utilized. They will work with a range of partners (from schools to non-profits to private sector) to distribute and pilot the student loan education platform with borrowers and identify areas for improvement.

In the coming weeks and months, the White House will continue to encourage organizations to take the Student Debt Challenge, and will announce additional challenge-takers. New Federal Commitments to Tackle Student Debt include:

·         The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) will share information with current AmeriCorps members, AmeriCorps alums, and grantees about income-based repayment options, such PAYE. CNCS will also ensure that more members and grantees have information about other ways to reduce their student loan burden, including Public Service Loan Forgiveness. CNCS will also continue to encourage colleges and universities to match the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award that members receive at the end of their term of service. This year, approximately 75,000 AmeriCorps members are serving with thousands of organizations across the country, and more than 980,000 AmeriCorps members have served over the last 20 years. Since the inception of AmeriCorps in 1994, AmeriCorps members have earned more than $3.1 billion in education awards to pursue further education or pay off their student debt. In addition, CNCS has made more than $93 million in interest forbearance payments covering the interest cost of students loans for AmeriCorps members during their terms of service.
·         Honoring Our Federal Workforce. The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will coordinate an interagency effort to provide the federal workforce access to the information necessary to use one of the four income-based student loan programs and Public Service Loan Forgiveness options in order to reduce their family’s student loan debt. Through the remainder of the Administration, OPM will collaborate with human capital professionals and senior leaders across agencies to develop effective strategies for communicating the options available to the federal workforce. These strategies will be woven through OPM’s existing efforts to encourage and advance Hiring Excellence and enhance employee engagement in order to recruit and retain a first class federal workforce.
·         Streamlining Systems So More Students Can Access Financial Aid Resources. The United States Digital Service (USDS), working with the U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid Office (FSA) will review and streamline the process of creating an FSA ID – which is the new financial aid username and password – so students can complete the FAFSAs and so borrowers can log to manage their student loans, through a more secure and protected system. USDS and FSA will also simplify the income-driven repayment plan application process so that it is simple for borrowers to enroll to manage their debt using an income-driven repayment plan. Part of this work will be to establish a centralized point of access for all federal student loan borrowers, starting with the needs of the borrower. Finally, USDS and FSA will digitize the process of applying for Public Service Loan Forgiveness so that teachers, firefighters, people serving their communities through non-profits, and others who are eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness do not struggle with paper processes to have their loans forgiven.
Building on a Record of Progress

Americans with student loan debt deserve high-quality customer service and the consumer protections necessary to ensure they can effectively take action on their student debt. Over the past few years the Administration has stepped up efforts to ensure that there are options available to support Americans who may be struggling with student loan debt.

·         Making College More Affordable and Keeping Student Debt Manageable. Since the President took office, the Administration has increased the maximum Pell award by over $1,000, and for the first time, tied aid to inflation to maintain its value. These efforts have cut the cost of college by about $3,700 on average for over eight million students last year. This Administration also established the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), which provides up to $10,000 over four years of college, which will help nearly 10 million families cover the costs of tuition and other educational expenses, saving on average $1,800 in 2016. To ensure student loans are manageable, the Administration has cut student loan interest rates, saving a typical student $1,000 over the life of loans borrowed this year, and began implementing the Student Aid Bill of Rights to strengthen loan servicing and make it easier for students to access the information they need to choose repayment plans. Meanwhile, defaults, delinquencies, and forbearances are trending downwards.
  • Accomplishments on the Student Aid Bill of Rights. Since the President’s announcement of the Student Aid Bill of Rights in March 2015, the Department of Education, in collaboration with other federal agencies, has worked to:
    • Identify Best Practices in Performance-Based Contracting including identifying a strong performance-based compensation structure focused on supporting borrowers with the greatest risk of default; setting performance metrics and allocation methodology to drive strong borrower outcomes; requiring standardized service-level minimums including standardized communications focused on risky borrowers; creating robust borrower protection and complaint resolution processes to ensure strong accountability; and establishing strong oversight processes and enforcement mechanisms including penalties for noncompliance or contract violations.
    • Protect Social Security Benefits for Borrowers with Disabilities through a new process to proactively identify and assist federal student loan borrowers with disabilities who may be eligible for Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) loan discharge.  Approximately 387,000 borrowers were positively identified in the first set of matches, which were conducted in December 2015 and March 2016. In total, these borrowers have a combined loan balance of over $7.7 billion, and roughly 179,000 are currently in default. As required by federal law, over 100,000 of those borrowers with defaulted loans have been certified for the Treasury Offset Program, and are therefore at risk of losing federal tax refunds, and of having their Social Security benefits offset. This month, borrowers who were positively identified in the match will receive a customized letter explaining that the borrower is eligible for loan forgiveness and the simple steps needed to receive a discharge. Unlike other borrowers, those identified through the data match will not be required to submit additional documentation of their eligibility. Instead, they are eligible for a streamlined process by which they simply sign and return the completed application. 
o   Find New and Better Ways to Communicate With Borrowers by conducting five pilots to test the most effective ways to share information about loan repayment options with borrowers. These pilots reached over four million borrowers this past year and will reach an additional three million by the end of the summer. The Department of Education collaborated with the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team to utilize research and behavioral insights about how borrowers consume information, consider their options, and make decisions about repayment. Randomized-controlled trials were used to test the effects of how choices are framed and the importance of personalized information. These insights are being used to inform a new repayment campaign to reach over a million borrowers in their grace period that are about to enter repayment.  Building on these successful pilots, the Department of Education is making plans to standardize communications about loan servicing so that information received is accurate, personalized and consistent, ensuring that borrowers receive the information that they need to successfully repay their loans.
    • Create a Responsive Student Feedback System to give students and borrowers a simple and straightforward way to file complaints and provide feedback about federal loan lenders, servicers, collections agencies, and institutions of higher education.  Beginning on July 1, 2016, the Enterprise Complaint System (ECS) will enable customers to submit complaints, positive feedback, and allegations of suspicious activity regarding their Federal aid experience directly to the Department of Education and receive responsive, meaningful resolutions. Customers will be able to view, track, and manage their cases through an easy-to-use online portal or by calling a dedicated support center. In addition, the data collected by the Department will be analyzed and used to drive enhancements to internal student aid operations and inform policy discussion on relevant topics.
    • Strengthen the Student Loan System to Better Protect All Borrowers through a report released last October, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury and CFPB, the report outlined a series of statutory, regulatory and administrative recommendations to safeguard student borrowers including calling on Congress to simplify income-driven repayment plans; ensuring service members don’t lose their interest rate protections under the Servicemember Civil Relief Act when consolidating their loans; strengthening protections against predatory third parties that charge borrowers exorbitant fees for services that are available for free at studentaid.gov and enhancing federal data-sharing to improve borrower experiences and simplify the application process for borrowers to re-certify eligibility for income-driven repayment over multiple years.

MAYOR WALSH JOINS HUD TO ANNOUNCE $100,000 FOR JUVENILE REENTRY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

MAYOR WALSH JOINS HUD TO ANNOUNCE $100,000 FOR JUVENILE REENTRY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 
Juvenile Reentry Assistance Program will reduce barriers to housing, jobs and education
BOSTON -
"In Boston, we believe in creating a culture of second chances, and a compassionate safety net that gives our young people the opportunity to succeed no matter what," said Mayor Walsh. "We know that housing is often the hardest challenge and I thank the Obama Administration for this funding that will allow the Boston Housing Authority to better support the future of our City."

"This funding will help break down barriers that prevent young people from finding work, getting into school or finding an affordable place to live," said Kristine Foye, Regional Administrator, HUD New England Region.  "We look forward to working with our partners in Boston to open these doors to opportunity."  

Under the Juvenile Reentry Assistance Program (JRAP), funded through DOJ's Second Chance Act funds, HUD and DOJ are teaming up to help young Americans who've paid their debt to society rehabilitate and reintegrate back into their communities.  JRAP funding was awarded to Public Housing Agencies who have a partnership with a nonprofit legal service organization with experience providing legal services to juveniles.

The BHA will use the JRAP funding to help youth ages 16-24 who live in BHA housing, or who are not eligible to live in BHA housing due to a CORI, to seal their records so that they can be reunited with their families in public housing. The project will also connect these young people with the BHA's Jobs Plus program in Charlestown, other job training programs, and social service organizations. These connections will ensure that the youth receive social support from other young people in the same circumstances, and access self-sufficiency and financial literacy programs that help them build skills for the future.

"Our residents like many of us have experienced setbacks and have made mistakes; especially when we were young. This grant will help us help our young people with job opportunities and housing. Youthful mistakes should not be a barrier for a lifetime" said Bill McGonagle, BHA Administrator. 

Having a juvenile or a criminal record can severely limit a person's ability to seek higher education, find good employment or secure affordable housing.  Today, there are nearly 55,000 individuals under age 21 in juvenile justice facilities in the United States, and approximately 185,000 young adults aged 18 to 24 in state and federal prisons.  These collateral consequences create unnecessary barriers to economic opportunity and productivity.  President Obama and members of his Cabinet, though the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, continue to take impactful steps to ensure those exiting the justice system become productive, law-abiding citizens. Today's announcement is consistent with HUD's recently released guidance on the application of Fair Housing Act standards to the use of criminal records by providers of housing and real estate-related transactions, and the recent guidance for public housing authorities and owners of federally assisted housing on excluding the use of arrest records in housing decisions.

To  help alleviate collateral consequences associated with a juvenile or criminal record, JRAP assists young people up to age 24 residing in public housing, or who would be residing in public housing but for their record, by:
  • Expunging, sealing, and/or correcting juvenile or adult records; as permitted by state law;
  • Assisting targeted youth in mitigating/preventing collateral consequences such as reinstating revoked or suspended drivers' licenses; 
  • Counseling regarding legal rights and obligations in searching for employment; 
  • Providing guidance for readmission to school; and 
  • Creating or modifying child support orders and other family law services, and more.

Baker-Polito Administration Announces New Opportunities for Veteran-Owned Businesses

Baker-Polito Administration Announces New Opportunities for Veteran-Owned Businesses
New supplier diversity certification for veteran business owners streamlines process, reduces wait times

FOXBOROUGH – Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito today announced a new Massachusetts Veteran Certification program and outreach process to reduce federal certification wait times, increase the participation of veteran and service-disabled veteran business owners in the Commonwealth’s supplier diversity program for goods and services’ contracts, and foster growth, competition and economic development opportunities for veteran-owned firms in Massachusetts.

“As our veterans return to create businesses and job opportunities for others, this process will improve their ability to compete for state and local contracts,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “We are proud to support our servicemen and women and their families for the sacrifices they have made, and for the continued contributions they make to economic development and their communities at home.”

The announcement follows the Baker-Polito Administration’s supplier diversity enhancements and expansion opportunities for veteran, LGBT, disability, diverse and small business entities announced in November, which included expanding the service-disabled veteran-owned business category of the Supplier Diversity Program to include all veterans, under an existing benchmark of 3%. While the administration will continue to employ cross-certification of veteran and service-disabled veteran businesses from partners like VetBiz and the U.S. Business Leadership Network, the state certification will significantly reduce the length of wait times veteran-owned businesses have experienced through the VetBiz process.

“By improving the way our military men and women can contract with the Commonwealth, Massachusetts is sending a powerful statement to encourage entrepreneurship and advancement for hundreds of veteran business owners,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito.

The Massachusetts Veteran Certification program was announced today at the Commonwealth’s 18th annual MASSBUYS EXPO in Foxborough, a 100% exhibitor-funded, two-day event convening nearly 3,000 businesses and public purchasing and procurement officials from state and local government, non-profits and educational institutions. The MASSBUYS EXPO is the largest business to government event of its kind in New England. This year's MASSBUYS EXPO includes the first Supplier Diversity Networking Event, which allows small and diverse businesses that are certified by the Supplier Diversity Office (SDO) to network with MASSBUYS attendees and exhibitors.

Veteran certification by the Commonwealth will begin on May 1 for all Massachusetts-based businesses, June 1 for New England based businesses and July 1 for firms in other states.

“Establishing a veteran-owned business certification program is a testament to the administration’s support for increasing the participation of veteran entrepreneurs in the Commonwealth,” said Veterans Services Secretary Francisco Ureña. “I thank Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Polito for their leadership and for championing our veterans and enhancing opportunities for their employment and success.” 

The development and implementation of the Massachusetts Veteran Certification program is supported in part by a $20,000 Diversity Goal and Business Technical Assistance Grant Opportunity awarded by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

“MGC is proud to support the SDO’s initiative to establish a certification and outreach program for veteran-owned businesses with the issuance of a $20,000 grant from MGC’s newly established Diversity Goal and Business Technical Assistance Grant Program,” said Jill Griffin, Director of Workforce, Supplier and Diversity Development for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. “An expedited certification for veteran business enterprises coupled with outreach and training programs will greatly assist in fulfilling the legislative mandate to ensure that the gaming industry in Massachusetts is inclusive and provides opportunities that reflect the diversity of the Commonwealth.”

The Baker-Polito Administration also initiated a bi-annual Supplier Diversity Regional Series in the fall of 2015, led by the Governor’s Office of Access and Opportunity (OAO), Massachusetts Office of Business Development (MOBD), the Operational Services Division (OSD) and OSD’S Supplier Diversity Office to increase engagement and marketplace opportunities for small and diverse business enterprises with procurement officials in state and local government, educational institutions, medical facilities and the private sector. The inaugural series hosted over 800 attendees.

In February, 2015, Governor Baker signed Executive Order No. 559, elevating the Office of Access and Opportunity to the Governor’s Office under the direction of a Deputy Chief of Staff to further the administration’s priority of increasing diversity and inclusion within state government employment and procurement. The Executive Order also established a cross-administration Steering Committee for Access and Opportunity to coordinate best practices.

麻州府獎勵二百萬元 Alnylam 建新廠

Alnylam to Break Ground on New Manufacturing Facility in Norton, Massachusetts

– 200,000 Square Foot State-of-the-Art Manufacturing Facility Supports Expanding Development Pipeline and Transition Toward Commercial Stage –

– Facility Expected to be Operational in 2018 –

Cambridge, Mass., April 28, 2016 – Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), the leading RNAi therapeutics company, today announced that it will break ground today on a state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Norton, Massachusetts. The facility will supply RNAi therapeutics for Alnylam’s clinical and commercial needs. The location, selected in close collaboration with Commonwealth and local officials, demonstrates Alnylam’s ongoing commitment to Massachusetts. Construction on the 200,000 square foot manufacturing facility is expected to complete in 2018 and it will initially employ approximately 150 new full-time employees.

“This flagship multi-product facility represents a key next step in Alnylam’s transition toward a commercial stage company. Increased manufacturing capability is vital to support our rapidly growing pipeline of ten clinical stage programs, two of which are in Phase 3 trials,” said John Maraganore, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Alnylam. “The Massachusetts talent pool, along with strong support from state and local partners in the Baker Administration, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and the Town of Norton were critical to our ultimate decision to establish this manufacturing facility in Norton, MA.”

Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony are Charlie Baker, the Governor of Massachusetts, Kimberly Haugstad, Executive Director of the Hemophilia Federation of America, Travis McCready, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and Lisa Nelson, Senior District Representative to U.S. Congressman Joseph Kennedy III.
“Alnylam’s decision to locate their biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Massachusetts speaks to our Commonwealth’s success in supporting an innovative economic environment and talented workforce,” said Governor Charlie Baker.  “We are excited about Alnylam’s choice and congratulate them as they continue to grow and advance investigational new medicines in the Commonwealth’s life sciences sector, creating new jobs and patient treatments.”

"The development of Alnylam’s manufacturing facility in Norton is further evidence that the State of Massachusetts can support the needs of integrated biotechnology companies such as Alnylam, through the entire biopharmaceutical life cycle, from discovery to development to manufacturing to sales and marketing,” said Travis McCready, President and Chief Executive Officer, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.

“The Hemophilia Federation of America is dedicated to serving the needs of patients and families affected by hemophilia and other rare bleeding disorders,” said Kimberly Haugstad, Executive Director of the Hemophilia Federation of America. “With the development of this manufacturing facility, Alnylam demonstrates its commitment and responsibility to the patient community as it strives to provide innovative new treatment options.”

About RNAi
RNAi (RNA interference) is a revolution in biology, representing a breakthrough in understanding how genes are turned on and off in cells, and a completely new approach to drug discovery and development. Its discovery has been heralded as "a major scientific breakthrough that happens once every decade or so," and represents one of the most promising and rapidly advancing frontiers in biology and drug discovery today which was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. RNAi is a natural process of gene silencing that occurs in organisms ranging from plants to mammals. By harnessing the natural biological process of RNAi occurring in our cells, the creation of a major new class of medicines, known as RNAi therapeutics, is on the horizon. Small interfering RNA (siRNA), the molecules that mediate RNAi and comprise Alnylam's RNAi therapeutic platform, target the cause of diseases by potently silencing specific mRNAs, thereby preventing disease-causing proteins from being made. RNAi therapeutics have the potential to treat disease and help patients in a fundamentally new way.

About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals
Alnylam is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics based on RNA interference, or RNAi. The company is leading the translation of RNAi as a new class of innovative medicines. Alnylam's pipeline of investigational RNAi therapeutics is focused in 3 Strategic Therapeutic Areas (STArs): Genetic Medicines, with a broad pipeline of RNAi therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases; Cardio-Metabolic Disease, with a pipeline of RNAi therapeutics toward genetically validated, liver-expressed disease targets for unmet needs in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases; and Hepatic Infectious Disease, with a pipeline of RNAi therapeutics that address the major global health challenges of hepatic infectious diseases. In early 2015, Alnylam launched its "Alnylam 2020" guidance for the advancement and commercialization of RNAi therapeutics as a whole new class of innovative medicines. Specifically, by the end of 2020, Alnylam expects to achieve a company profile with 3 marketed products, 10 RNAi therapeutic clinical programs - including 4 in late stages of development - across its 3 STArs. The company's demonstrated commitment to RNAi therapeutics has enabled it to form major alliances with leading companies including Ionis, Novartis, Roche, Takeda, Merck, Monsanto, The Medicines Company, and Sanofi Genzyme. In addition, Alnylam holds an equity position in Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a company focused on discovery, development, and commercialization of microRNA therapeutics. Alnylam scientists and collaborators have published their research on RNAi therapeutics in over 200 peer-reviewed papers, including many in the world's top scientific journals such as Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Cell, New England Journal of Medicine,and The Lancet. Founded in 2002, Alnylam maintains headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information about Alnylam's pipeline of investigational RNAi therapeutics, please visit www.alnylam.com.

Alnylam Forward Looking Statements
Various statements in this release concerning Alnylam's future expectations, plans and prospects, including without limitation, Alnylam's views with respect to the potential for RNAi therapeutics, its expectations regarding its pipeline growth strategy, and its plans regarding commercialization of RNAi therapeutics, construction of a manufacturing facility and the hiring of employees to work in that facility constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, Alnylam's ability to discover and develop novel drug candidates and delivery approaches, successfully demonstrate the efficacy and safety of its drug candidates, the pre-clinical and clinical results for its product candidates, which may not be replicated or continue to occur in other subjects or in additional studies or otherwise support further development of product candidates, actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of clinical trials, obtaining, maintaining and protecting intellectual property, Alnylam's ability to enforce its patents against infringers and defend its patent portfolio against challenges from third parties, obtaining regulatory approval for products, competition from others using technology similar to Alnylam's and others developing products for similar uses, Alnylam's ability to manage operating expenses, Alnylam's ability to obtain additional funding to support its business activities and establish and maintain strategic business alliances and new business initiatives, Alnylam's dependence on third parties for development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of products, the outcome of litigation, and unexpected expenditures, as well as those risks more fully discussed in the "Risk Factors" filed with Alnylam's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in other filings that Alnylam makes with the SEC. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent Alnylam's views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. Alnylam explicitly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

世界醫藥創新論壇第三日諾華執行長談醫藥未來有四個重點

Highlights of the Day
Day Three of the World Medical Innovation Forum was short, but was filled with some of the most exciting aspects of the meeting. The first session touched on the needs of cancer patients who require alternative strategies to achieve optimal therapeutic benefit, and the advantages and challenges associated with combination therapy.

The opening session was followed by a fireside chat with Joseph Jimenez, CEO of Novartis, who provided insight into Novartis' successes and discussed current topics including CRISPR, CAR-T, a second generation of immuno-oncology, and the biggest threats to the future of innovation.

The morning continued with a session in which panelists discussed new cancer diagnostics driven by advances in genetics, genomics and proteomics, and the integration of these technologies into the delivery of care. This panel was followed by a discussion around the evolving role of disease-focused philanthropic foundations in patient care. For more in-depth highlights from Day Three, see below.

The capstone event of the Forum was the announcement of the Disruptive Dozen, the 12 technologies predicted to have the greatest impact on cancer care in the next decade. The main stage was filled with 12 influential leaders in cancer research and clinical care from Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who came together for an exciting and insightful discussion around these state-of-the-art medical technologies and what they mean for the future of the field.

The Forum closed with notes from Anne Klibanski, MD, Chief Academic Officer of Partners HealthCare, who noted that one of the greatest accomplishments of the Forum was the facilitation of a new community; a community that can shift paradigms and accelerate cures by having open dialogue, understanding priorities, and incorporating patient needs, expectations, and quality of life issues, and posed a challenge to the audience to maintain this dialogue even after conclusion of the meeting.

Next year, the Forum will focus on cardiovascular disease and will be held from May 1-3, 2017 at the Westin Copley in Boston, Massachusetts.




New Philanthropy: Patients Driving Innovation
As part of continued discussion around patient-driven innovation, the New Philanthropy session provided insight into the efforts of philanthropic leaders and how their community is redefining its role to develop new ways to help patients and drive breakthroughs. As disease foundations become more involved in all aspects of patient care, including the lab, clinic, engagement, and regulatory approval process, their role has evolved.

As gaps in funding for basic and translational research grow, these organizations have provided extensive financial support to the cancer research community, which has led to the development of breakthrough therapies and promising technologies. As Louis DeGennaro, PhD, President and CEO of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, pointed out their foundation funded the basic research that eventually led to the development of Gleevec and supported early efforts in the development of CAR-T technology at the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Judy Salerno, MD, President and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, emphasized the importance of funding young investigators and remarked that, as funding has dried up, we are starving a pipeline of next-generation investigators who are needed to advance progress.

To provide this support, fundraising is essential, and the panel discussed the role of athletic events and social media in driving their efforts. As Dr. DeGennaro observed, cancer patients "want to win," and athletic events such as walks, challenges, and races are a practical manifestation of that desire and are successful because "people give to people." Supporting that notion, Billy Starr, Founder and Executive Director of the Pan-Mass Challenge, added that today's technology allows people to reach out to their world and create bonds and opportunities that are distinct from the impact of direct mail or celebrity spokespeople. When asked about the influence of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and whether they would consider that type of engagement for their audiences, Judy Salerno, MD, President and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, noted that their focus tends to be more directed toward the recruitment and development of people who are passionate about their mission and can become advocates.

To push for faster cures, panelists noted that their organizations are facilitating ongoing dialogue between patients and the FDA to address issues, concerns, and preferences, and training advocates in science to better disseminate their message. Additionally, as money raised from the Pan-Mass Challenge is donated exclusively to treatment and research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Mr. Starr also noted the patient role in the design of the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care, which was intended to advance clinical care and enhance the patient experience.


Disruptive Dozen
After rigorous consideration by cancer faculty from the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the 12 technologies that are predicted to have the greatest impact on cancer care in the next decade were announced. After a short audio clip describing their disruptive technology, panelists representing each of the 12 areas enlightened the audience as to why their respective fields would have an impact on the future of cancer care in a series of sound bites.

Following a major theme of the Forum, and perhaps unsurprisingly, cellular immunotherapy was announced as the most disruptive technology for the next decade. Marcela Maus, MD, PhD, Director of Cellular Immunotherapy at MGH, highlighted the promise of this technology by stating that it has the potential to become a frontline cancer therapy and noting the unprecedented results seen in some patient populations thus far. However, she also noted that there are obstacles to overcome in the development of this technology for the treatment of solid tumors, which can be addressed by identifying new targets, using different engineering strategies to distinguish tumor from self, and targeting the tumor microenvironment.

The second runner-up for most disruptive technology was liquid biopsy for oncology, and Shyamala Maheswaran, PhD, Associate in Molecular Biology, Surgery at MGH, praised the benefits of more frequent, less invasive sampling methods as compared to tumor biopsy and described the applications of this technology in early detection of cancer, monitoring of therapy, evaluation of mutational status to direct therapeutics, and assessment of heterogeneity between tumor cells for a deeper understanding of tumor evolution.

Coming in at number seven, genome editing was represented by Keith Joung, MD, PhD, Associate Chief of Pathology for Research at MGH. When posed the question, "how crisp are CRISPRs?" by Forum Co-Chair Daniel Haber, MD, PhD, Director of the MGH Cancer Center, Dr. Joung explained that, while limiting off-target effects at this time is a challenge, we have a distinct opportunity to develop treatments for diseases in which there are no therapies currently available and should proceed with the understanding that the technology will evolve and improve over time.



Fireside Chat: Joseph Jimenez, CEO, Novartis
周菊子攝
Rounding out the fireside chat series, Joseph Jimenez, CEO of Novartis, sat down with Gregg Meyer, MD, Chief Clinical Officer at Partners Healthcare System to discuss:

• Changes that need to take place in the "healthcare system as a whole to a platform where all patients have access to therapies"

• The company's "IO strategy is to be strong with second generation approaches that target the tumor microenvironment" and the "shift away from a transactional approach to outcomes-based approach"

• The four pillars: clinical value, patient value, health system value and societal value

• The importance of intellectual property for driving innovation - "there are no generics without innovation"

• The relatively low cost and continuing benefits, often extending over decades, of a drug once it comes off patent should be included in discussions of drug pricing


周菊子攝

星期三, 4月 27, 2016

世界醫藥創新論壇第二日談全球癌症市場

Highlights of the Day
Day Two of the World Medical Innovation Forum was brimming with fireside chats and panel discussions. The first session of the day highlighted the growing global cancer burden in which panelists from leading international companies and key government entities discussed the challenges to providing innovative technologies in diverse markets, as well as potential strategies to overcome these obstacles.

In the second panel, experts provided an in-depth discussion on the promise of epigenetics for cancer research, describing the complex science behind the regulation of how genetic information is processed and the development of therapies that leverage these alterations to target cancer.

Two panels focused on the promise of immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer, highlighting the recent burst in the field of immuno-oncology. A set of fireside chats provided insights into drug pricing, data sharing, collaboration, and patient-driven innovation.

The final plenary session, moderated by CNBC Biotech and Pharma Reporter Meg Tirrell, saw a panel of oncology investors discuss some of the most compelling topics in the industry today, including the most promising technologies, investment trends, comparison to other periods in cancer investing and, naturally, drug pricing.

The day concluded with four concurrent focus sessions, which provided discussion around radiation therapy, oncology devices, study design for personalized cancer medicine, and the unique challenges posed by increased cancer survivorship. For more in-depth highlights from some of the most interesting panels from Day Two, see below.

Notably, panelists demonstrated surprising candor when discussing their personal struggles with cancer, and seemed optimistic about the current trajectory of science, with the word "cure" being used more freely in the context of cancer and without reservations of this being a crazy notion, emphasizing the reality of working towards cures.

 

 
2016 World Forum

Global Cancer Markets
As the global cancer burden is expected to increase from 14 million to 22 million cases by 2030, panelists from leading international companies and a key governmental entity, namely the famed National Institute for Health and Care Excellence at the UK NHS, discussed the future of cancer in a global market. Moderator Sheila Dharmarajan, Head of Business Development at Zelnick Media Capital, started out by emphasizing the term "tremendous" to describe not only the prolificacy of cancer, but also to describe the complexity of the market, breakthrough technology, and the dollars at stake in terms of both pricing and cost of innovation.

When posed with the question of whether pharmaceutical companies should fund diagnostics, panelists acknowledged that, due to the innate differences in business models, each company must decide their own path, but Bruno Strigini, President of Novartis Oncology, also noted the importance of considering the development of targeted therapies with companion diagnostics, which can be critical to providing the right products to the right patients.

Additionally, Newton Crenshaw, Vice President of North America Oncology at Eli Lilly and Company, stressed the importance of symbiosis between diagnostic and therapeutic companies, and indicated that reform is needed for regulatory bodies to accelerate diagnostics and provide access to patients. Following up on this point, Gillian Leng, MD, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Health and Social Care at NICE, stated that this relationship could be most effective if regulatory bodies were allowed to evaluate the drug and diagnostic together.

As technology advances and we begin to consider cancer to be a chronic rather than terminal condition, Mr. Crenshaw also posed the question of how to best support patients beyond medicine, but noted that the cost burden of long-term treatment must be considered, as well.
 

Immunotherapy: Checkpoint Activation, Cancer Vaccines, and Cell Based Therapies
Day Two featured two panels on the promise of immunotherapy in cancer treatment in which panelists discussed various approaches to leveraging the human immune system to fight cancer, including checkpoint inhibition, anticancer vaccines, and CARTs.

In the first session, panelists were cautiously optimistic about immunotherapy as a tool for cancer treatment and agreed that this wave of enthusiasm is still in its early stages and we must proceed by paying particular attention to the determinants of tumor response and resistance. In this context, a recurring message was the importance of tissue biopsy and biomarker analysis before and during treatment, which will be critical to the understanding of what is happening to patients at a molecular level and, as Scott Rodig, MD, PhD, Associate Professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital, mentioned, will be extremely important in the determination of rational drug combinations going forward.

Similarly, panelists also stressed that we should think carefully about how we are approaching combination therapy; rather than using a shotgun approach in which we try every drug combination, we should be deliberate in understanding the underlying mechanisms to predict optimal patient populations and avoid toxicity. More specifically, Thomas Daniel, MD, Chairman of Celgene Research, stated that we should be considering the patients for which combinations are medically valuable, along with a scientific grounding for why a specific combination makes sense, which is a more tractable and financially feasible option as compared to the shotgun approach.

David Reese, MD, Senior Vice President of Translational Sciences at Amgen, noted that a major challenge in the field at present is a need for the development of new surrogates for traditional response criteria; as patients live longer and overall survival becomes increasingly difficult to measure, some trial designs will essentially become intractable.

The second immunotherapy panel discussed what's next for CAR T-cell therapy, with Usman (Oz) Azam, MD, Global Head of Cell and Gene Therapies Unit at Novartis, referring to the current technology to as "version 1.0." Panelists discussed the promise of CART in hematological malignancies, but as Mark Frohlich, MD, Executive Vice President of Portfolio Strategy at Juno Therapeutics, pointed out, we must still determine the right targets for solid tumors.

When quizzed about the future of the technology, Dr. Azam also mentioned that gene therapy could be utilized to take CARTs to the next level, which Chuck Wilson, PhD, CEO of Unum Therapeutics, expanded upon by suggesting that the use of gene editing to target specific genes, create allogeneic T cells, or inhibit signaling pathways, could support the work of CARTs.

Dr. Wilson also reminded the audience that the reality is, as an autologous cell therapy, the logistics of taking cells from the patient, manufacturing cells, and returning them to the patient, will be inherently more costly than other therapies, but that scalability could bring this cost down. Additionally, as Marcela Maus, MD, PhD, Director of Cellular Immunotherapy at MGH, pointed out, the development of point-of-care methods or "off-the-shelf" T cells that could treat many patients with one lot are potentially less costly.
 

 
2016 World Forum

Fireside Chat Roundup
The first two days of the Forum were filled with fireside chats, which allowed for an intimate perspective on pricing, the importance of data sharing, academic and industry collaborations, current healthcare challenges, and much more.

Kicking off the first fireside chat of the Forum on Monday evening, Richard Gonzalez, CEO of AbbVie, sat down with Nancy Snyderman, MD, Medical Advisor, GE Healthymagination, to discuss:

• The acquisition of Pharmacyclics and the "blind dating process"

• "Doubling down on R&D" to bring a consistent stream of good medicines

• Catering to patients by "bringing improvements for standard of care" that the healthcare system would reward

• The most important model today of "partnering with academic and biotech"

Tuesday's lineup of fireside chats started with Amgen's CEO Robert Bradway and Bloomberg's biotech reporter Caroline Chen on a variety of topics including:

• The need "to collaborate outside of your organization, especially with cancer"

• The costly price tag that comes with innovation but "the need to focus on the benefit that it brings for society"

• Project Data Sphere, an independent and not-for-profit initiative of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer's Life Science Consortium (learn more here).

• A call to society to invest more in cancer prevention

With nine months left on the job, Andy Slavitt, Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), spoke candidly with CNBC's biotech and pharma reporter, Meg Tirrell on:

• The need for new payment models because governments don't have "magic pots of money" and "we are still in the 1st and 2nd generation of pricing models"

• Finding new ways to care for the "most difficult people with the lowest income and are disconnected from the healthcare system"

• Pilot programs for cost containment and spurring innovation focused on "doubling down on primary care and prevention"

• The qualifications for the next CMS administrator - "doesn't need the job, doesn't see it as a stepping stone, doesn't need to make friends, and has struggled to find and provide care"

Praising the industry for its strides in finding important cures for cancer, Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO, Giovanni Caforio, MD, started off his chat with Meg Tirrell by highlighting three critical points to being a leading company in oncology: keeping the patient at the center, following the science and collaborations with industry and academia. Other topics included:

• The need for "different payment models and flexibility in the healthcare system"

• The "beginning stages of understanding why patients don't respond to immunotherapies"

• The need to focus on biomarkers as "they are really important"

Rounding out today's fireside chats, "patient scientist" Kathy Giusti, Founder of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium, spoke with Nancy Snyderman, MD, to discuss her journey:

• Being a patient advocate, patient and business disruptor who has elevated attention and propelled advancements for multiple myeloma

• The need for data sharing for research and cures

• The "tough lifting" that comes with trying to stay on top of the cancer landscape

• Partnership with Harvard Business School to "put together a business plan by which business and science could start disrupting" and "to bring the absolute best-in-class to ask the tough questions and to share and solve the problem"

• How she made the decision to stop her own treatment 

波市公校進考試學校研讀班學位增至750

Exam School Initiative prep program expands seats for under-served youth in Boston Public Schools
BOSTON - (Wednesday, April 26, 2016) - Boston Public Schools (BPS) announced today that the Exam School Initiative, a free study program for students seeking admission to the district's three exam schools, will expand the number of seats in the program this summer from 450 to 750 to provide more equitable access to academic rigor for students from the district's traditionally underrepresented schools.
 
"The expansion of the Exam School Initiative is an important step forward in helping build a more diverse student body in our most highly sought schools," said Mayor Martin J. Walsh. "It is critical that all of the city's youth have access to a high-quality education - they deserve nothing less."
 
The Exam School Initiative is a free preparation course offered to any student living in Boston who is eligible to take the "ISEE" exam to gain admission into the district's three exam schools: Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy, and the John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science. The annual program begins in August and has been hosted at Boston Latin School since it began in 2000.

"Operating through the lens of equity is at the core of what we do in Boston Public Schools," said Boston School Committee Chairperson Michael O'Neill. "We know that an important aspect to closing the opportunity and achievement gaps is providing students of color access to programs with strong academic rigor like the Exam School Initiative. I am proud of our work and thankful of the support of Mayor Walsh and the Boston Latin School Association in this tremendous effort."
 
A charitable foundation that Mayor Walsh helped form and the Boston Latin School Association will account for the 300 additional seats, as well as communication and recruitment outreach, specifically for Boston students who attend public schools that have been traditionally under-represented in the Exam School Initiative program.
 
"Thoughtfully expanding this tremendously impactful program will help students who need it the most," said BPS Superintendent Tommy Chang. "I applaud the work of the Office of Opportunity and Achievement Gaps for taking a critical look at better providing meaningful academic experiences for all of our students."
 
Each year, approximately 600 BPS students who score above a certain threshold on the TerraNova standardized exam are invited to participate in the Exam School Initiative Open House in the spring. Students attend the Exam School Initiative courses in the summer and through the fall, typically of their sixth-grade year, when they take the "ISEE" exam to gain admittance to one of the three BPS exam schools.
 
The Exam School Initiative began in 2000 with a goal of helping BPS students of color gain entrance into the exam schools and to understand the benefits of an exam school education. However, 2014 enrollment data shows that 44% of the participants were White; 28% were Asian; 14% were Hispanic; and 10% were Black.
 
"Having additional seats proportional to students who are best served by the Exam School Initiative is an important step in the right direction," said Colin Rose, assistant superintendent of opportunity and achievement gaps for BPS. "We will continue to analyze the impact of these changes to guide our efforts of providing equitable access for all students."
 
Peter G. Kelly, president of the Boston Latin School Association and a 1983 alumnus of Boston Latin School, said supporting the Exam School Initiative expansion is imperative.
 
"The Boston Latin School Association is proud to collaborate with Mayor Walsh and to expand its partnership with the Boston Public Schools in providing opportunities for quality learning for students of all backgrounds," Kelly said. "This investment reflects the core values and the fundamental mission of the BLSA to ensure that all BPS students have the opportunity to achieve through exam school education."