Governor Romney has supported charter schools and merit pay for teachers. He also supports standardized testing, merit based scholarships for students, and english immersion. He believes that states should control the funding, scope, and structure of education, but that the federal government has a role to play in education. One area that he cites for this is in standardized testing.
In 2004, Governor Romney outlined that state's future education policy in 5 bullets. He wanted to fully fund full day kindergarten, grant $20 million for after school programs, make parent prep programs mandatory, set aside $5 million for grants for programs to deal with poorly disciplined students, and increase efforts to remove poor performing children who were disrupting the classroom. In addition, Governor Romney proposed a college program that gives students who score among the top one-quarter in the MCAS four years at the University of Massachusetts or any state or community college, tuition free, and those who score in the top 10 percent will be given four years of free tuition and a $2,000 annual payment to help pay for fees. This "Adams Scholarship" program did eventually go into place for top 25%. However, the scholarship does not cover fees and other items.
In 2007, Governor Romney continued his push for a merit based scholarship similar to the Adams scholarship on a national level. At a campaign speech he noted his support for the scholarship program, and for english immersion programs, such as the one in Massachusetts. He also noted that the state of Massachusetts attempted to pass legislation to end charter schools, which he vetoed as Governor.
In Interviews before the Iowa primaries, Governor Romney repeatedly touted the success of these english immersion programs as part of the reason Massachusetts students score high on standardized tests. Governor Romney also notes his support for standardized testing as a method of gauging student success, noting that in Massachusetts students must pass a test to graduate.
2004 State of the State - Legacy of Learning
On January 15, 2004 Governor Romney issued his state of the state address for Massachusetts. In that speech, Governor Romney discusses his 5 point plan for education. This plan includes fully funded full day kindergarten, $20 million for after school programs, mandatory parent prep programs, $5 million for grants for discipline programs, and efforts to remove poor performing children. In addition, Governor Romney proposes a college program that gives students who score among the top one-quarter in the MCAS will be given four years at the University of Massachusetts or any state or community college, tuition free, and those who score in the top 10 percent will be given four years of free tuition and a $2,000 annual payment to help pay for fees.
What legacy will we leave our children? I am convinced that our legacy should be a legacy of learning.
Massachusetts has some of the best schools and teachers in the nation. Education reform, adopted a decade ago, raised standards and closed funding gaps. But it was the first step, not the last. Let us now take every step, to prepare every child, for an ever more competitive future.
Today, I am announcing a Legacy of Learning initiative. I believe that a true legacy of learning can only come from a comprehensive effort, committed to the child every step of the way.
Let's start with our school buildings. I am asking the Legislature to work with me to launch an ambitious school building program.
We're horribly backlogged in renovating and rebuilding old and dilapidated schools.
I will propose a series of construction reforms and a refinancing program that will jump start over 100 new and remodeled school projects.
Let's start building and renovating these new classrooms now.
Great new school buildings aren't enough. We need to face up to the reality that some of our schools are just not educating our children.
Some schools are seeing as many as one-third of their students drop out of high school before the end of their senior year. Some have disappointingly low MCAS scores.
An achievement gap persists. For these kids, doors to the future are slammed shut. That is simply unacceptable.
Our Legacy of Learning initiative provides emergency support for the bottom tenth of our school districts, where almost one third of our kids go to school.
First, the state will fund full day kindergarten in every one of these districts that doesn't have it.
Second, we will provide $20 million in additional funding for after school and summer school special help sessions.
Third, parents of children in our troubled schools need to get more involved. I propose to establish a mandatory parent preparation course to teach parents how they can support their child in school and how they can foster the discipline and hard work that are the cornerstone of education.
Fourth, Legacy of Learning will provide $5 million in grants for discipline programs. With programs tailored for chronically disruptive youth, we will take discipline problems out of the classroom so they are no longer in the way of those kids who really want to learn.
Fifth, Legacy of Learning devotes $3 million to train, recruit, and reward teachers who specialize in math and science.
Finally, my initiative will insist that principals be given the authority to remove any teacher that cannot succeed with our kids. That won't happen very often because the great majority of our teachers are terrific. But giving the principal the authority to hire and fire will put the principal, and the parents, back in charge of their school.
My Legacy of Learning initiative doesn't stop with high school. We're fortunate to have excellent public colleges and universities. But many families are having a very difficult time paying for them. And I can't stand seeing so many of our best students going off to attend college in other states.
I want our best and brightest to stay right here in Massachusetts students like Linette Heredia.
Linette is an honors student at Lawrence High School. She earned a perfect score on the English portion of the MCAS, which is all the more impressive since her family's native language is Spanish. She's number two in her class. She's here with us tonight.
Linette, would you please stand?
Linette, we want you to stay in Massachusetts.
More than 200 years ago, John Adams wrote in the Massachusetts Constitution that our rights and liberties depend on the wisdom and knowledge of our people.
So for Linette and thousands like her, our Legacy of Learning initiative will provide funding for the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program. Students who score among the top one-quarter of those who take the MCAS will be given four years at the University of Massachusetts or any state or community college, tuition free.
There's more. Any student who scores in the top 10 percent will be given four years of free tuition and a $2,000 annual payment to help pay for fees. This Adams Scholarship Program will cost about $50 million a year by year four.
And it's worth every dime.
Lexington County Speech
In February of 2007, Governor Romney spoke about his education policies in Massachusetts. He notes the english immersion program, and the merit based scholarship for those graduating in the top 25% of their high school class.
One of the things that I care very deeply about is education. K-12 was something I didn't want to cut in my budgets. We did everything we could to protect that budget. In fact to help our schools, we fought for and got english immersion. We had something in Massachusetts called "bilingual education." Parents could check off which language that their child could get educated in ... people were learning the languages of their parents, perhaps the languages of their parents birth. But in America, people need to speak english to be successful in a (nation) where english is spoken.
I was also able to put in place, with the help of some friendly folks in the legislature, a merit based scholarship for those who want to go on to higher education. Look, we have great scholarship programs in my state, as I am sure that you do here, for kids who want to go on to college based on need. We spent over $90 million dollars a year on scholarships for students based on need. But I wanted a scholarship also based on merit, where the kids who are the best and the brightest and doing the very, very best in their schools were able to get a scholarship. Some didn't want to do that, but ultimately, we got the job done. And now in Massachusetts, if you graduate in the top quarter of your high school, you're entitled to four years tuition free at any of our state universities.
South Carolina Debate
In May of 2007, Governor Romney participated in the South Caroline debate. He stated that he supported the No Child Left Behind Program.
MR. WALLACE: Governor Romney, during this campaign, you have been criticized -- and again tonight you've been criticized -- for changing your position on some issues. You say that it's a part of learning from experience. Can you point to an area in which your learning from experience led you to change to a position that is less popular with the Republican base?
MR. ROMNEY: Sure, a number -- quite a few, actually. And as Senator McCain did, as he mentioned the flag issue -- I have issues that take me in the same direction. One is No Child Left Behind. I've taken a position where, once upon a time, I said I wanted to eliminate the Department of Education. That was my position when I ran for Senate in 1994. That's very popular with the base.
As I've been a governor and seen the impact that the federal government can have holding down the interest of the teachers' unions and instead putting the interests of the kids and the parents and the teachers first, I see that the Department of Education can actually make a difference. So I supported No Child Left Behind. I still do. I know there are a lot in my party that don't like it, but I like testing in our schools. I think it allows us to get better schools, better teachers; allows us to let our kids have the kind of hope that they ought to have.
I think, by the way, the civil rights issue of our time is not what's going on on this stage right here, but what's going on in the schools in the inner cities of America, because the kids are not getting the education they need for the jobs of tomorrow. And so I'm very proud of the position I've taken. I support the president in that regard, and that's where I stand.
Big Think Interview
In November of 2007, Governor Romney was interviewed by Big Think. On the topic of education, he spoke about initiatives that he had proposed to allow those graduating in the top quarter to attend college free of charge, the need for english immersion, and support for school choice and voucher schools. He also states that people making less than $200,000 per year should be allowed to save for college tax free.
... In my state, I fought for high standards, for testing for our kids before they get out of high school, I fought to make sure that our kids are taught in English in our schools. We have english immersion now, we use to have bilingual education. I think to be successful in America, you have to speak the language of America.
I also fought for school choice. My legislature passed a bill saying "no more charter schools," I vetoed that. That veto was sustained, so I was able to preserve school choice. So that's one thing we have to do.
Number two, you want to recognize excellence. Again in my state, I fought for the Adams scholarship and got that instituted. If you graduate in the top quarter of the high school students in your high school, you get a four year tuition free scholarship to a Massachusetts Institute of higher learning.
Finally, I've proposed at the national level that all middle income families ... that's families earning $200,000 a year and less ... would be able to save their money with a new tax rate on their savings ... Interest, dividends, and capital gains would be taxes at absolutely zero. Let people save their money so that kids are more able to have families that more able to prepare for the expensive burden of college.
Des Moines Register Interview
In December of 2007, Governor Romney was interviewed by the Des Moines Register and spoke about the role of the federal government in education, standardized testing, and performance pay.
Well, I think that the federal government can play an important role in education in our country, although I think that education funding and education policies primarily reside, and should reside, at the local and state level. I think in the case of the federal government, it can balance some of the demands of organized labor. With regards to testing for instance, student testing is not something that organized labor is enthusiastic about, but having a federal department of education can encourage and promote the testing of kids. I believe that's one aspect of No Child Left Behind that has a positive effect on education. I know that there are a lot of folks that don't like testing, that don't like standardized testing ... and there are certainly flaws in the way that the testing system works right now with No Child Left Behind. I think that we cut the slice a little too narrow with certain ethnic groups, and high schools, and so forth, but let's put that aside for a moment ... I think that the key thing is that the Department of Education can look at policies that encourage our kids to be more competitive globally. ... And the fact that our nation has children that are not competitive on a global basis, particularly in math and science, is a real concern. The response to that gap relative to our kids with respect to the rest of the world is largely going to be met at the state and local level. But from time to time there may e things that the federal government can do that can help to make a real difference.
I think that school choice was a big plus for Massachusetts, I believe that english immersion in our schools helped the performance of our kids, I believe that performance pay will have the same kind of positive impact, I think that we ought to pay our better teachers more money. I proposed a $5,000 bonus to teachers in math and science, a $5,000 bonus for a teacher that can teach AP, $5,000 bonus for teachers who are deemed by their peers and by their principles to be in the top 10% of their schools. All paid for by the state.
One of the things that I attribute to the prior governors as having a big impact on education was our testing program. No Child Left Behind in some respects mirrored our own experience, which is that we test our kids and we require to pass a graduation exam to officially graduate from high school in english and math. I added science to that list. Our kids will be tested in science in the future. In addition to the "stick" of having to pass an exam to graduate, we worked hard to pass a "carrot." That is a carrot not just to pass the exam, but to do well on the exam. So we instituted something called the "Abigal and John Adams Scholarship." The top quarter of kids in each high school ... of those who take the test, the top 1/4 of those kids are entitled to 4 years tuition free, at our state University or state colleges. Now, fees are even more in Massachusetts than tuition, so it's not entirely a free ride, but it is a strong signal that we care very deeply about excellence in school performance.
Manchester Town Hall
On June 3, 2008 Governor Romney gave a town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire. He was asked about state control of education versus federal control, and testing standards.
You know, one of the reasons Massachusetts does so well with out students, is that we have such a strong catholic school system, and so many kids have choice. The catholic school system has a low tuition cost, and so people of modest means or normal means are able to send their kids to catholic schools. They have a very large scholarship program. School choice is a very big source of success in our state, and I have to give credit to that.
It's amazing to me that there really are people who somehow don't think that the Constitution was really all that brilliant ... that they know better than the constitution. I actually think that the decision by the founders to say "you know what, we are going to specifically limit the power of the federal government. We are going to give to the states the rights and authorities to deal with those things that are actually closest to our citizens. So issues like caring for the poor, issues like education, these are going to be handled at the state and local level. Closest to the people, where, by the way, the people can have their views more fully expressed, where if there's a problem it can be changed more easily."
In Massachusetts, we have a referendum program. If you don't like something, you can put it on a ballot or referendum and we can change it, even if our elected representatives are not willing to do it. The states are the place for those issues that touch us most directly, and I can't think of many things that touch us as directly as the education of our children.
Now, I like what we have in my state. We have a statewide series of academic criteria, we have a curriculum, we ask our kids to take a test every year to see how they are doing, you can't graduate from high school unless you pass the test. And I think it's working pretty well. But I'll tell you one thing, If Barack Obama says "I'm gonna take that and impose it on the nation," I will fight it to the nth degree. We do not have the federal government step in with their so called experts, taking over the rights of people, states and local governments, it's against the constitution, and it's wrong for Americans.
By the way, you know what this is about? This is about millions and millions of dollars that go into the Obama campaign from the national teacher's unions. The bosses of those unions want to get their hands on education on the national level because they're losing in a lot of states. A lot of states are saying "No, you can't do that," and "No, we're holding you back," and "We want to pay for performance, and we want a process where those teachers that are failing are removed from the classroom. We want to have more school choice, we want to have cyber learning." And so some of those unions are losing those battles, and they want to take it over at the federal level, and I cannot imagine an American where you're gonna have a White House, Republican or Democrat, and a Congress, Republican or Democrat, laying out what our kids have to be taught. That is unacceptable. I wanna be able to go to whatever state gives me my freedom.
Huckabee Forum
In December of 2011, Governor Romney participated in a forum moderated by Mike Huckabee. He was asked about his previous support for No Child Left Behind and what his administration's role would be in education.
