For MASSPTA

I could really thank each and every one of you in this room, as so many of you have done so much, but I am not going to do that other than to offer my collective thanks. You know what you all have done  To my husband Toby Kusmer and to my two daughters Sarah Rose and Anna, thanks for bearing with me during a challenging period, and to my parents Sumner and Eleanor Kaplan, I cannot find the words to express my thanks for your support. 

I want to thank you all for coming today to be my guests and witnesses to this swearing in. This is of course a momentous occasion for me personally???to become a part of a group of caring citizens committed to directing the course of education policy in Massachusetts, and in particular to represent the interests of parents. It seems like such a simple idea, but in fact I will be the pioneer for this concept, and will hopefully help to increase parental and guardian access to educational policy in our state, as well as to enhance parent-school communications generally. This element is so critical to the success of our students, as we all know.

Much has been made of my commitment to a comprehensive assessment system in Massachusetts. In some ways, this is puzzling. We all know that the 1993 Ed Reform law called for an assessment system based on a  variety of assessment instruments Unfortunately, that system is not what transpired. I hope we can do something to correct that, and I intend to try. But the key here is not me???it is an " us " situation. Governor Patrick???s campaign slogan was " Together We Can."  I guess I am going to appropriate that slogan???and I will be represented by my husband Toby, the intellectual property "maven," to get me out of a jam with the Governor for infringing upon that slogan!  

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