Historically education has been a long established aspiration and principle ofNew World settlers to Massachusetts since inception, and shares much of its common initiative and foundation with the widerNew England region.[1]
In 2024 through statewide referendum (The Proposition Question #2) passes with voters seeking to remove theMassachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) as a statewide graduation requirement.[6]
The Commonwealth maintains its own Executive Office of Education (EOE).[7] Presided over by the state's MassachusettsSecretary of Education, Patrick Tutwiler[8] who is appointed byGovernor of the Commonwealth.[9] Established in 2008, the Executive Office of Education oversees and coordinates the direction and efforts of:
The EOE comprises three main department agencies under its oversight:[3][10]
In addition to the educational oversight under the Executive Governor, theGeneral Court (legislature) maintains a bipartisanJoint Committee on Education.[19]
Many of the state's school districts receive educational funding from any number of sources including thestate lottery,property taxes, as well as federal, state, and local funding sources.[20][21][22][23][24] In past years, many school districts of within municipalities across the Commonwealth additionally sought electronic communications franchiseregulatory fees fromwireline providers operating in the state as a means of additional revenue or for sponsorship of broadband connectivity.[25][26][27]
There are provisions under Chapter 74 of theGeneral Laws of Massachusetts[28] for the establishment or provisioning of recognizedvocational school or "career technical education"[29] programs at the secondary or higher education levels.[30][31]
Massachusetts schools had prior sought to adhere to federal guidelines like those outlined in theNo Child Left Behind Act, 2002 (NCLB).[32][33] In 2012 PresidentBarack Obama signed a waiver to the state of Massachusetts and several other states regarding NCLB.[34] The state has since sought to formulate a plan for the transition to theEvery Student Succeeds Act, 2015 (ESSA) statute.[35]
^Hunter, Esq., Molly A."State Constitution Education Clause Language"(PDF).www.edlawcenter.org. Education Law Center, Inc. RetrievedMarch 30, 2025."Wisdom, and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties; and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them; especially the university at Cambridge, public schools and grammar schools in the towns..."
^abDoc., Doc."An Act Reorganizing Certain Education Agencies".www.malegislature.gov.Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L.). Massachusetts General Court (MGC). RetrievedMarch 16, 2025.§ 14A. Executive office of education Section 14A. (a) There shall be an executive office of education, which shall include the departments of early education and care, elementary and secondary education, and higher education. (b) The executive office of education shall be under the supervision and control of a secretary of education, in this section called the secretary. The secretary shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the governor, shall receive such salary as the governor determines, and shall devote full time to the duties of her office.
^Doc., Doc."General Laws, Part I, Title II, Chapter 6A, Section 14A: Executive office of education".www.malegislature.gov.Massachusetts General Laws (M.G.L.). Massachusetts General Court (MGC). RetrievedMarch 16, 2025.(a) There shall be an executive office of education, which shall include the departments of early education and care, elementary and secondary education, and higher education. (b) The executive office of education shall be under the supervision and control of a secretary of education, in this section called the secretary. The secretary shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the governor, shall receive such salary as the governor determines, and shall devote full time to the duties of her office.
^Toness, Bianca V. (July 31, 2023) [March 5, 2019]."How Massachusetts Pays For Its Schools".WGBH News. WGBH Foundation (published March 5, 2019). RetrievedMarch 18, 2025.
^Staff writer (2024)."Administration and Finance". Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.www.doe.mass.edu. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. RetrievedMarch 18, 2025.Massachusetts invests approximately $16 billion a year in our public schools through a mixture of federal, state, and local funds. The Administration and Finance team directly oversees DESE's $6 billion annual budget, 98 percent of which goes directly to districts in the form of local aid, grants, and special education reimbursements. Funding streams include the Chapter 70 program, the main form of state education aid; the special education circuit breaker program; and food and nutrition grants and programs. We also provide school districts with school finance information.
^Staff writer (2024)."Finance and Funding". Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.www.doe.mass.edu. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. RetrievedMarch 18, 2025.The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's budget alone is a little more than $5 billion, and 99 percent of that goes directly to districts in the form of grants, local aid, and special education reimbursements.
^Staff writer (2025)."Regulatory and Negotiated Fees and Taxes". Department of Telecommunications and Cable.www.mass.gov/orgs/department-of-telecommunications-and-cable. Gov. of Massachusetts (published 2024). RetrievedMarch 22, 2025.
^"Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)". Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.www.doe.mass.edu. Government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. July 29, 2019. RetrievedMarch 19, 2025.
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