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Boston Globe
8 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Despite federal cuts to higher ed, Mass. free community college presses on, transforming students' lives
'Whenever I thought about going back to school, I knew that if, for some reason, I got overwhelmed with work and couldn't go to school, I'd accrue that debt,' Hannigan, 43, told the Globe. 'It's one of the things that dissuaded me from going to school again.' Advertisement Hannigan is now president of the Greenfield Community College student senate, president of the college's permaculture club, and two classes short of graduating with a degree in farm and food systems. With straight As, he hopes to transfer to a four-year college next year. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up His turnaround is thanks to a program called MassReconnect, which launched in 2022, offering free community college to state residents over age 25 who don't have a bachelor's degree. It is the precursor to the state's MassEducate program, which started a year later, offering free community college to all residents. Early data suggest Massachusetts' experiment with free community college has been successful. Enrollment has shot up by Advertisement But while state funding for the programs is ensured for next year, federal cuts to higher education put the long-term feasibility of the program on shaky ground. Many students say their lives have been changed by free community college. 'If it wasn't for free community college, I'd just be working some manual labor job at UMass right now, not even thinking about college,' Hannigan said. Pedro Rentas also didn't see college in his future. When he moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic, he heard friends and family complaining about student loans. 'I was like, 'I'm going to avoid that one,'' he said. But when he heard about MassReconnect, he enrolled the same day. Rentas tore through school, finishing in a year and a half. Immediately after graduating, he applied for a position as a branch manager for Reading Cooperative Bank in Lawrence. His associate's degree came up in the interview; he cinched the job. Today, his salary is nearly double what it was before college. This fall, he's enrolling in the University of Massachusetts Lowell to pursue his bachelor's degree in criminology, with a long-term plan to become an immigration lawyer. But many community college students still face barriers. The state will only pay what's left after a student uses up other financial aid. Since low-income students— many of whom are students of color — already depend on aid like Pell Grants, they're the least likely to benefit from these new programs. That may explain why, according to state data, MassEducate students are more likely to be white and less likely to be Black, African-American, Hispanic, or Latino compared with the overall student population. Advertisement Additionally, the programs cover only tuition and fees. Those costs make up just While the state offers a $1,200 living stipend for low-income students and up to $1,200 for books and other supplies, that still falls short of the roughly 'I've heard stories of students living in shelters, in friends' attics, or in other unstable housing just to stay in school,' Hannigan said. 'So even with tuition, fees, and books covered, college still isn't accessible for everyone.' Bahar Akman, managing director of the Hildreth Institute, a Boston-based higher education research group, says that students who don't have additional financial support need to work more hours while in school, 'negatively [impacting] their ability to attend full-time and increase the likelihood of [dropping] out before completion.' It may become more difficult for the highest-need students to find additional support as the Trump administration seeks deeper federal funding cuts. Already, a statewide program to provide wraparound services will receive $700,000 less for the next fiscal year. The cascading effects of other federal cuts, particularly to Medicaid and food assistance, may mean that state lawmakers will eventually be forced to use discretionary funding meant for free community college to cover costs of other social programs. 'While this is a great program for students, it's coming at a time when we are getting this onslaught of federal garbage that is putting the colleges in this tough situation,' said Claudine Barnes, president of the Massachusetts Community College Council and professor of history at Cape Cod Community College. She's already seen cuts to programs that mention DEI. 'At community colleges where we have such a diverse student body, using that to cut funding for the neediest of students is just appalling.' Advertisement Core funding for free community college is safe — for now. In the latest fiscal budget, the Legislature allocated $120 million to fund both programs for the next year. 'We're proud that in a challenging budget year, Massachusetts was able to continue funding one of the most comprehensive free community college programs in the country,' said Noe Ortega, the state commissioner of Higher Education. To address students' unmet needs, schools across the state have begun opening food banks to support the In percent said improved access to food reduced their depression and anxiety. In 2022, Massachusetts launched the Hunger-Free Campus Initiative, which supports food security efforts. The Legislature is now considering Kiara Rosario, a single mother, relied on food support from Roxbury Community College to get through a degree in psychology. She helped to set up the Rox Box, the school's food bank, to assist other students in need. Without state and federal aid, Rosario said she would not have been able to attend college. And without more tailored, individual support from RCC — such as gas cards and a work-study job — she would not have been able to stay enrolled. Advertisement Now graduated, she's hoping to finish her bachelor's in psychology at Boston College, and then to become a social worker. For inspiration, she holds onto how she felt a few years ago, when free community college was first announced. At the time, she was on a Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges advisory committee, which helped to design and implement the program. She was worried the state wouldn't be supportive. 'I had the perspective that the wealthy usually win, so I thought they would go against it,' she said. When it was approved, 'I couldn't believe it, it was our dream. I couldn't believe they were really listening to us.' This story was produced by the Globe's team, which covers the racial wealth gap in Greater Boston. You can sign up for the newsletter . Mara Kardas-Nelson can be reached at
Chicago Tribune
8 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Stacy Davis Gates: Chicago families deserve to go back to fully funded schools
For the first time in years, when parents drop off their children to school this year, they will be in smaller class sizes. Elementary students will have access to the state-mandated recess Chicago Public Schools previously didn't provide. Libraries are reopening. Our homegrown national model for public education, sustainable community schools, is expanding to 16 more campuses this year. Black students will be taught in classrooms where the right to learn their history is enshrined in our contract and all students will have greater access to sports, arts, music and a nurse and counselor. School will be one of the safest places immigrant students can be due to our expanded sanctuary protections. Students with disabilities will be supported by 215 new case managers. LGBTQ+ students will arrive at schools with staff support, access to all-gender restrooms and protocols against bullying. All of these improvements to the school day are a result of the contract educators fought hard for over the past year and ratified in April. And they all require the governor and Democratic majority in Springfield to pay our district what is owed. While parents were fulfilling back-to-school shopping and educators were equipping classrooms with supplies out of their own pockets, the state that withholds money from CPS was holding a hearing to find out why the district is in financial trouble. The answer is obvious. It's a choice. It is not a math problem. The difference between a cost and an investment is one's values. The difference between a deficit and a robbery is one's tax bracket. At a time when Illinois' wealthiest 5% are getting handed $8 billion in tax cuts from President Donald Trump, Gov. JB Pritzker's budget provided $10 billion in tax breaks and other incentives at the state level to tech corporations and the ultra-rich. Combine those and you're looking at $18 billion in giveaways to those who need it least. That's enough to eliminate CPS' entire $1.6 billion funding gap more than 11 times over. The governor says he wants to fund Illinois schools fully, but has yet to create a budget to reflect that desire. Meanwhile, books are locked in libraries because schools don't have librarians. We're losing art and music teachers at schools deemed 'fine arts.' High schools operate without math and science teachers. CPS just laid off crossing guards, security guards, janitors and — at a time when Trump is cutting SNAP for families — CPS is planning to cut the one hot meal some students have access to. Our schools have been cut to the bone and constantly asked to do more with less. But this isn't just underinvestment. It is also extraction. While banks prey on the false scarcity by demanding an even higher premium on loans, research shows that for Cook County is being shortchanged in terms of state funding. For every dollar it sends to the state of Illinois in tax revenue, it receives only 90 cents back. Meanwhile southern regions in Illinois receive $2.81 for every dollar of tax revenue created. The Blackest school district in the state, with the highest homeless student population, the highest bilingual population and the highest special needs population hasn't just experienced disinvestment. Black and brown families in Chicago have been subsidizing the education of students outside city limits for as long as the system has been designed to deprive our own children of equal opportunity. This back-to-school season is the result of more than a decade of work to undo the damage done by privatizers and school closers. We are in the midst of a reconstruction in our city to make good on what formerly enslaved ancestors dreamed of for their descendants when they broke the back of the Confederacy, ended the Civil War, and created public schools, labor rights and public health. We need a partner in our governor and the Democratic supermajority, not just a debt that's past due. We need being a blue state during Trump's authoritarianism to mean something. As much as is spent to try to demonize our union, we're more in-line with the people of our state than anyone arguing for cuts or to deny our children the education they deserve. Ninety-one percent of Illinoisans, when asked, believe in the right to a public education and 71% support increasing funding for schools. When asked where that money should come from, 63% of Americans say raise taxes on corporations and the ultra-rich. States such as Massachusetts are proof positive that this isn't rhetorical, it's successful. There they implemented a millionaire's tax that raised $2.2 billion in its first year alone — double what was expected. This revenue was used for universal free school meals, free community college and transit improvements. No millionaires fled the state. The state's millionaire population increased by 38%. Just last week, Massachusetts adopted an initiative to Trump-proof their education infrastructure while Illinois Democrats hold hearings asking why schools are broke. With 78 Democrats in the House and 40 in the Senate, that's more than enough to call a special session and do the same. Trump is actively dismantling public education, attacking communities of color, and transferring wealth to billionaires. The question for our state is simple: Will you be a beacon that stands up to the president, protects democracy and fights for our children? Or will you passively complement his plan for our schools through inaction? The state set the goal of at least adequately funding our schools by 2027. But the most recent budget opens that gap to $1.6 billion dollars owed instead of closing it. The steps are simple. End the tax breaks. Fund our schools. Turn the political theater into political leadership. Our students are waiting. Stacy Davis Gates is president of the Chicago Teachers Union.
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Boston Globe
Metco, nearly 60, at crossroads amid search for next leader
Advertisement There also are growing parent demands for Metco to hold accountable its participating districts, following a number of allegations of 'We need someone that can speak out against the things that are being done that are wrong, and speak out against things that don't promote education,' said Dorchester mom Vanesa Morales, whose two children have participated in the Metco program. State Representative Christopher Worrell, who graduated from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School through Metco, said he wants to see the nonprofit and its next leader play a larger role in breaking down racial barriers in the state. 'Metco could be, and should be, bigger than just busing inner city kids to the suburbs,' said Worrell, who has two children attending Newton schools through Metco. 'It should be the main focal point of race relations and be a leader on race relations.' Advertisement Metco (officially the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) began in 1966 as a coalition of Boston parents and a handful of suburban school districts who agreed to bus predominantly Black children from the city into wealthier, suburban communities in hopes of obtaining a better academic experience. Today, the Metco program spans 33 communities around the state and enrolls about 3,000 students. (There is also a separate Springfield program for that sends about 100 students to four Western Massachusetts communities.) Since its inception, Metco has had two leaders, including Jean McGuire, who helped found Metco and served as CEO until late 2016, when she said she During Arbaje-Thomas's tenure, the state added about $8 million to the program's annual budget, for a total of nearly $30 million per year in state funding, and changed its enrollment process Related : That plan includes several commitments by member districts, including offering inclusive, antiracist school environments, personalized support for academic and postgraduate success, and equal inclusion in extracurricular activities. A search committee is working with a Advertisement Darnell Billings, 'At this time, no decisions have been finalized regarding the hiring of a new President & CEO. We are continuing to follow a deliberate and thorough process, and additional information will be shared publicly at the appropriate time,' Billings said in a brief email. By several measures, the Metco program is successful. Researchers in separate studies have found students enrolled in suburban districts through Metco perform better academically than their peers in Boston Public Schools. Metco students have had a higher graduation rate than their Boston peers, or the state as a whole, state data show. A greater percentage of Metco students also plan on attending college. A The program 'brings much-needed diversity to suburban districts and makes friendships, dialogue, and learning across race more possible,' the committee's report said. Meanwhile, in suburban districts, achievement gaps among Metco students persist, state testing data show. Domingos DaRosa, a Boston resident whose daughter attends high school in the Concord-Carlisle regional district, resigned last November as the School Committee's Metco parent representative, he said, after administrators and the board failed to listen to Black and Latino students, and didn't address his concerns about achievement gaps. 'The face of Metco Inc. has to be the individual who represents the students' interests,' DaRosa said, referring to the organization by its formal name. Advertisement Daniel Gutekanst, the superintendent in Needham and a member of the Metco Inc. board, said school administrators in member districts are taking reports of racist harassment seriously, and are working to address achievement gaps through the Metco 2.0 effort. 'I acknowledge there are problems, and there are problems in Needham,' said Gutekanst, who declined to speak about the search process. 'I also know there is a commitment among superintendents and Metco directors [in school districts] to really move the ball forward, and really make sure our classrooms are inclusive, that kids feel welcomed, and that they're achieving at high levels.' Several of Nita Holder, who sent her then-13-year-old son to Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School through Metco in 2023 and 2024, The purpose of Metco is 'not only to support the families of Boston,' Holder said, 'it's to educate the suburban towns and cities about what it means to be a young Black boy, a young Black girl, coming from the city of Boston, and trying to navigate a whole other culture.' John Hilliard can be reached at
