Mitchell Chester Goes to Massachusetts

Remember him?

He's Mitchell Chester.


Of the three original finalists named by the Kentucky Board of Education in April for the Commissioner's job, he's the one they should have hired, rather than going throught that whole mess with Barbara Erwin. The Board did avoid pursuing Richard La Pointe - who would have arguably been even worse.

But yesterday, the Massachusetts Board of Education hired Mitchell to be their new commissioner - the first out-of-stater since the 1980s. Massachusetts Board Chair Paul Reville said Chester's "national presence was a strong factor, but at the same time, he had the local experience that's very important to people in the field."

Massachusetts was the top state in the most recent round of NAEP testing but that only earned them a B on their Quality Counts report card. Even so, the typical problem for top performers is addressing the achievement gap - and that will be Chester's chore #1 in New England.

This from the Boston Globe: Photo by Tracy Jan Globe Staff/January 18, 2008:

New education chief facing a big test

Chester must address an achievement gap
between rich, poor

An Ohio education official with a national reputation for inspiring change beat out two other finalists for the top education post in Massachusetts, becoming the first out-of-stater to hold the job since 1986.

Mitchell Dan Chester said he is "not interested in coming to Massachusetts to manage the status quo."

Mitchell Dan Chester, senior associate state superintendent in Ohio, impressed the Massachusetts Board of Education by declaring in an earlier public interview, "I'm not interested in coming to Massachusetts to manage the status quo." ...

...Massachusetts routinely scores at the head of a list of states on national tests, but it also has one of the worst achievement gaps between poor and rich students in reading and math, said Chester, citing a recent national study. More than a third of public high school graduates attending Massachusetts public colleges must take remedial courses.

The state needs to address graduation requirements that are too lax to adequately prepare students for college, Chester said. He has called for extending the school year in underperforming, high-poverty schools and attracting top-notch teachers to those schools by paying them more.

"The gaps are large, and there's no reason why we shouldn't be doing a better job in the state of educating our poor and underrepresented populations," Chester said in a phone interview yesterday. "I'm very excited to be selected, to have the confidence of the state board. I'm looking forward to serving the students and educators of Massachusetts."