In news of the week, the Massachusetts House passed an education funding bill that would potentially push $1.5 billion into school districts. But there's a key difference between the House and Senate versions.
The House legislation did not include a provision that's in the Senate bill, which would give the state education commissioner less input on how to deal with underperforming districts.
House Education Chair Alice Peisch said it's important for districts be held accountable.
"Unfortunately, we have seen examples where — I look at Lawrence as a perfect example of a city that was receiving a lot of money from the state, and yet under the purely local control, there was not very good education offered to those students," Peisch told reporters at the Statehouse.
It's expected the House and Senate will work to come up with a compromise bill.
There's less than two weeks before Election Day across western Massachusetts. In Pittsfield, the mayoral contest features first-term Mayor Linda Tyer facing a challenge from City Councilor Melissa Mazzeo. Mazzeo finished ahead of Tyer by 289 votes in the preliminary election in September. Crime has emerged as a key issue in this contest. Tyer has touted hiring more police, but Mazzeo says more needs to be done to combat violence in Pittsfield.
Also this week, an Associated Press story reported that some college students studying medical fields, and are using medical marijuana, are running into trouble with their schools. As part a requirement of their major, they are required to undergo drug testing. Some of those who failed drug tests have been expelled or barred from clinical instruction. A similar case was settled at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut.
And we wrap up with home prices in Massachusetts. The median home sale price is up this year more than 3% statewide, but in two western Massachusetts counties — Franklin and Berkshire — it's up more than 7%. The spike is 5% in Hampden County. But median prices in western Massachusetts remain far less expensive than the state average of $400,000.
Guests:
- Kristin Palpini, veteran Valley journalist
- Larry Parnass, investigations editior, The Berkshire Eagle
