Massachusetts has a long and admirable history of concern for the quality of education - Section 1.

The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 ("MERA") evolved from a political process that married Equity to Standards reform. Implementation of the Equity components, increased State Aid and a maximum Minimum Contribution, together with a buoyant economy led to a higher basic level of funding per pupil. The rankings by expenditure per pupil appear to be more sensitive to growth in enrollment than to the impacts of Foundation Budgets or State Aid formulae.

Implementation of Standards has yet to really begin. Ten years of Curriculum development has meant that only two of the seven disciplines has been tested each year and also resulted in testing starting late. Competency Determination, as a condition for graduation, also began late and there is evidence that the tests and re-tests were adjusted to make failure less easy.

Apart from Professional Development the Procedural / Administrative elements of reform have been largely ignored by school districts.