State Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler talks about early education on WBUR

This week, Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler spoke to WBUR radio about how he’s working to stabilize, heal, and transform education. 

Tutwiler talked about a number of topics including moving through the pandemic, chronic absenteeism, mental health needs, and early education and care. Here’s some of what he said. 

“The steps that we’ve taken in early education to stabilize, relative to meeting the needs of providers and families, with our C3 grants, the Commonwealth Cares for Children grants, [has been] a significant piece of the stabilizing effort in that sector.” 

"Aligned with our goals to stabilize, heal, and transform our education system, this initiative will ensure that our most vulnerable children have a chance to focus this winter on playing and learning instead of the cold.” – @MassEducation Secretary Tutwiler

📰@NewBedfordGuide pic.twitter.com/7vBaJMBxTv

— MA Dept of Early Education and Care (@MassEarlyEdCare) December 7, 2023

“[I’m] thinking about K-to-12, mental health… we’ve provided universal meals, made that permanent actually, that was a big one.”

It’s a matter, Tutwiler says, of asking “What are the things that we need to do to support students, families?”

On chronic absenteeism, Tutwiler says, “Absenteeism is really a manifestation of a need being unmet. So we need to think carefully about is it a mental health challenge that a student is experiencing? Are they food, secure, housing stable? Those are the kinds of things that we’re having deep conversations about.”

Asked about his priorities for 2024, Tutwiler says Massachusetts can expect to see “significant shifts… in the early literacy space.”

“We’ve built a foundation in early education with the Commonwealth Cares for Children grants. We also want to think about what we can do in the affordability space.”

To learn more, check out the broadcast.