History of Campaign for Admissions Reform and Equity
2019 Vocational Education Justice Coalition formed around inequities in the vocational school admissions policy. Coalition grows to 18 community, civil rights, unions over the years.
2020 Meeting with DESE Commissioner Jeff Riley
2020-2021 VEJC members meet two times with each member of the Board of Education including Secretary of Education Jeff Riley
2020 DESE meets with 6 vocational schools to see if they will voluntarily change their admissions policies to increase diversity. They all refuse to make changes.
2021-2022 8 members of VEJC testify at different times on this issue at the Board of Education meetings
2021 Legislation to change the admissions system to a lottery is filed by Senator John Cronin (D-Fitchburg) in January
2021 Both 35 state legislators and 22 Mayors sign letters asking the Board of Education to change the Admissions Policy
June 2021 Board of Education passes new Admissions Policy
September 2021 When vocational schools start filing new required policies under the new regulations, VEJC finds they are continuing ranking students by grades, attendance, Discipline, Guidance Counselor Recommendations and Interviews……..VEJC testifies at the Board of Education and asks Commissioner Reilly and the Board to intervene since this violates what was said by Commissioner Riley when the new regulation was passed. They refuse and say they’ll analyze the data on the fall 2022 entering class and decide what to do. So we lose another year to make needed reforms.
December 2021 VEJC reads all the admissions policies filed and 27 of 28 vocational schools continue ranking students. Only one goes to the Lottery we propose…Assabet Vocational School in Marlborough.
January 2022 VEJC does report analyzing the 28 admissions policies filed by vocational schools with 27 continuing ranking students
March 2022. VEJC does reports analyzing student enrollments in vocational schools and admission rates for Students of Color, English Language Learners, Special Needs students, and Low Income Students
April 2022 Vocational Education Justice Coalition votes to ask the Center for Law and Education and Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights to prepare a Civil Rights complaint to the Civil Rights Division of the US Education Department
Fall 2022 VEJCoalition sends document on the case for changing the admissions policy the Maura Healey for Governor campaign and meets with Policy Director, Sarah Sabshon
January 2023 Senator John Cronin and Rep. Tony Cabral, with support from the VEJCoalition, file bills, SD 2312 and HD 3617 to change the vocational system to a lottery
January 2023 VEJCoalition requests meeting with Governor Healey’s newly appointed Secretary of Education, Patrick Tutwiler
January 2023 VEJCoalition requests meeting with Governor Healey’s Secretary of Education
February 2023 Civil Rights complaint filed by the Vocational Education Justice Coalition with the US Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights