By Christopher Huffaker

The Massachusetts Legislature is considering blocking a proposed change to lottery admissions for the state’s popular trade high schools, even as other power brokers in the state have lined up on the other side.

State education leaders had taken steps to move to lottery-based admissions following criticism by advocates who argue the existing admissions process locks many marginalized students out. But after lobbying efforts from some of the vocational schools themselves, Massachusetts House lawmakers have now taken actionto prohibit the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education from making any admissions changes before the 2027-28 school year and instead create a new task force to further study the issue……….Click to read full article

By David Mancuso

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has finallyclarified how it determines if vocational schools are complying with legal requirements to admit student populations reflective of the socio-demographics of the districts they serve.

The long overdue clarity strikes at the heart of the ongoing state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s “fairness” debate comes as DESE tries to justify shoving an admissions lottery down vocational school administrators’ throats.

The Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators told Contrarian Boston they were notified of DESE’s new clarity on proportionality on April 10.

On April 18, the public comment period closed on DESE’s proposal to alter vocational school admissions to include a weighted lottery. That proposal was contrived by DESE and lottery advocates all while the department neglected to tell anyone what metrics were being used to judge whether vokes achieved the state’s anti-discrimination goals………….Click to read full article

By SUSAN LaHOUD

A state legislative committee is proposing a pause on a controversial move by the Healey administration to change admissions policy for vocational and technical schools to include a lottery system.

The changes being considered by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education are opposed by a number of area superintendents and state Rep. Adam Scanlon, D-North Attleboro. Click to read full article

By Matt Stout and Anjali Huynh

….”Lawmakers also pushed back on another Healey administration proposal. The state education department in February proposed to change how vocational schools admit students by using lotteries, rather than ranking students based on criteria such as grades.

The House budget would instead create a 15-member task force to review school policies, with a report due in September 2026, and prohibit education officials from changing admissions regulations until after that report was completed.”

by David Mancuso

Tim Murray, former Lt. Governor, now President and CEO of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, has come out squarely against the Healey-Driscoll administration’s efforts to engineer a lottery for vocational and technical school admissions.

Following a Chamber press release, Murray headlined the 39th Annual Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators Outstanding Vocational Technical Student Awards Ceremony in Worcester’s Mechanics Hall where he threw down the gauntlet.

By David Mancuso

At the March meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, state ed officials threw a curveball.

In a plan that all but came out of left field, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education proposed a “weighted lottery” for vocational school admissions.

By Susan LaHoud

A number of area superintendents and a local state rep are opposed to newly-proposed rules by the state Department of Education on the creation of a lottery system for vocational and technical school admissions.

Following Observer's coverage of the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)'s radical new admission requirements for vocational schools (What Could Possibly Go Wrong?), Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical School Superintendent, Dr. Karen Maguire reached out. 

Education officials agreed Monday to seek public feedback on updated regulations that allow more students with serious discipline problems and chronic unexcused absences to be admitted to the state's expensive and overburdened vocational (aka career technical education) schools.   The 'reformed' system incorporates a weighted lottery system into the admissions process for vocational schools, after advocates decried a previous proposal they argued could still limit access for students from lower-income communities.

By David Mancuso

With their latest bumbling and fumbling with vocational school admissions policies, state education officials continue to cling to an unnecessary admissions lottery.

We need to add more seats to meet the demand from students — and employers

Hands-on skills are staging a comeback at leading-edge districts, driven by high college costs and demand for more career choices