‘Destructive': Educators blast new Mass. admission lottery for vocational schools
The panel, consisting of school and business leaders in cities including Brockton, Springfield and Worcester, preferred the previous system of selection based on interviews, grades and recommendations.
Panelist Timothy Murray, Worcester Chamber of Commerce president and CEO, argued that a lottery system penalizes students who work hard to earn good grades, suggesting that their educational fate is being determined by chance.
'It is unfortunate and not where we need to be going,' Murray said.
The Massachusetts Vocational Technical Coalition, along with the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Pioneer Institute, hosted a forum about the state's vocational-technical admission policy in the Worcester Chamber of Commerce building on Tuesday.
The five panel members all criticized the state's new admission policy, which bans the use of interviews, grades, or recommendations to decide whether an incoming high school student can be enrolled in a vocational-technical high school or high school program.
Some advocates of voc-tech schools have previously said that the past criteria for enrollment lead to a disproportionate exclusion of special needs students, economically disadvantaged students, students of color and English language learners in schools.
The new policy, approved by the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on May 20, will implement a weighted lottery system for Career and Technical Education programs that have more applicants than available seats, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education.
Kevin McCaskill, who previously worked in Springfield, said the state's decision would destroy industries that benefit from having students attend voc-tech schools and programs that focus on subjects such as plumbing and electrical engineering.
He said the previous systems, which were determined on a district-by-district basis, helped create healthy competition for middle school students who worked hard to become better in their respective trades and academics.
'If we can start raising the standards of our middle schools, raising awareness of the parents, that creates a healthy base of future employers,' McCaskill said.
Gov. Maura Healey's administration proposed the lottery system, and members of her cabinet, including the Governor herself, approved of the system. In a statement on May 20, Healey said the lottery helps increase access for eighth graders who want to obtain a vocational-technical education.
'While we continue to increase the number of seats in career technical education schools, we know that there are still more applicants than openings at many of the schools,' Healey said. 'Today's vote will help give all eighth graders more knowledge of their options and a better chance at being admitted to these schools.'
The panel disagreed with Healey, with Gerson Monteiro calling the proposed lottery system 'more destructive than helpful.'
The heavy demand for vocational-technical schools and programs has resulted in students being stuck on waiting lists, according to the panel members. Murray suggested that a solution to this problem could be to establish universal access to career and technical education programs at non-vocational technical schools.
The new voc-tech lottery system is scheduled to start during the 2026-2027 school year but there is a possibility the system may not go into effect at all.
Tucked within the Massachusetts House of Representatives' proposed budget for FY2026 is an amendment that would prevent changes to the admissions policy and establish a task force to study and make recommendations on vocational school admissions.
The amendment would be approved if the House bill is passed.
The bill is currently in conference committee, where lawmakers reconcile differences between a bill passed by the House and a bill passed by the Senate. It is unclear whether the final budget bill will have this amendment.
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