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For Immediate Release
Monday, January 8, 1996
Contact:Alan Safran

Everett Schools Featured in Albuquerque, New Mexico This Friday

Malden - On Friday, January 12, the Everett public schools will be the center of discussion at a national conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The conference is run by the "State Education Improvement Partnership," with representatives of 50 states attending and five national organizations hosting, including the National Governors' Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of State Boards of Education, the Education Commission of the States, and the Council of Chief State School Officers. When Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Robert V. Antonucci was invited to send a state group to the conference in Albuquerque, he put together a team of Everett school officials including John Foresteire, the school Title I Director, and a state Board of Education member, a staff member of the state legislature and David Driscoll, Deputy Commissioner of Education. In order to present Massachusetts' Education Reform successes in the context of the national Goals 2000 initiative, Commissioner Antonucci selected the Everett schools as the model for state improvement to showcase for the conferees. The Department of Education prepared a six minute videotape of the children, teachers, and administrators of the Everett schools. Pre-school children at the Adams school are featured prominently, as is their program coordinator, Joan O'Grady. Superintendent Fred Foresteire also speaks on several occasions, and notes on the tape that "I think that one of the most beneficial things that has come out of the Goals 2000 program and the Ed. Reform in our state is that both the U.S. Dept. of Education and the State Dept. of Education have allowed the local community to address their own needs. They have not tried to micromanage. They have served as a resource for us. And it has made a great difference in us being able to address the needs of the particular people in this community." On the tape, Commissioner Antonucci praises the Everett school system's innovative use of the state Education reform law and the federal Goals 2000 funding to "make a difference for the children of Everett." And US Senator Edward Kennedy, who visited the schools in June, is also shown on the tape. The conference runs from January 11-13. The Everett videotape and presentation will occur at 1:30 pm on Friday January 12 and be repeated for a second audience at 3:30 pm. Copies of the videotape are available from the Department of Education at 781-338-3000.



Last Updated: January 8, 1996



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