Massachusetts Children Win the Race to the Top - Now the Hard Part!

Massachusetts is a winner in the national Race to the Top competition.

PBLN congratulates US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for the vision behind this competition for educational excellence, as well as Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo, the members of the Massachusetts legislature and the extraordinary "Race to the Top" coalition PBLN has been proud to be part of in Massachusetts. 

Massachusetts and the other victorious states earned this victory by putting the needsof children above all else. This is a victory for innovation and excellence, a victory for the economy and a victory for all students.

What happens now? Implementation means putting $250MM to work within new and more varied, custom models that aggressively go after the goal of closing the achievement gap for all students. There will be a surge of innovation in terms of school models, classroom models, teacher training and teacher evaluation....all this lies ahead. The business community really had an impact here along with a wide range of partners who do not always work well together. Congratulations to all parties for their leadership.

Member Spotlight

Diane Hessan, President & CEO - Communispace
According to Advertising Age Communispace is one of the fastest growing marketing and technology companies in the country, with a Blue Chip client list that would make a Madison Avenue giant jealous. A pioneer in creating online communities to help marketers deeply engage customers, Diane helped found Communispace in 1999 and hasn't looked back.