According to Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) regulations, the school systems in the Commonwealth’s cities and towns are supposed to give the state’s vocational/technical schools access to middle school and high school students that might be interested in or benefit from their programs.
That’s the theory. But according to a recent article in Contrarian Boston by reporter David Mancuso, the rules are often honored more in the breech, very likely because districts fear the loss of per-student funding to an outside system.
Mancuso quoted Karen Maguire, Superintendent at Tri-County Regional Technical Vocational School in Franklin who stated that the level of cooperativeness among the 11 communities in her district varies, through she stressed that she has “good” relationships” with all the local superintendents. However, she added, “… they're getting pressure…to better control the number of students attending Tri-County.”
According to Mancuso, a DESE survey, 70 percent of the vocational schools surveyed claimed that they have been prevented by local school districts from connecting with students and families, potentially robbing students of vital career pathways.
And, if that survey is an accurate reflection of what’s happening statewide, nothing appears to getting done to solve the problem because, in essence, there are no penalties. DESE can only “encourage” compliance, but in a time of tightening resources, individual districts seem destined to act in their own interest rather than in the interests of students.