A grant of $12.5 million has been given to UMass Boston and Northeastern University to bring middle and high school science departments across Boston up to higher standards. This effort will help ensure proper education for not only teachers, but for Boston’s future scientists, doctors, physicists, and engineers.

“We see ourselves as having a role in shaping and improving public education in the Commonwealth and most certainly right here in Boston,” Motley aptly said of UMass Boston. It is projects like these that are able to show to the state how important public higher education is, and how important it is to fund it fully. An estimated eighty percent of teachers at the high school and middle school levels need more training and only ten percent of Boston students meet proficiency criteria. The No Child Left Behind Act requires better results from these statistics, and pretty soon, so will the dreaded MCAS. This grant will cultivate a new wave of highly qualified teachers and encourage challenging courses in science. The Boston Science Partnership appears to include skilled professionals with an understanding of ways to improve the current conditions of Boston’s education system.

The project is a step in the right direction for students struggling in science and mathematics, and could open doors of interest for more student interest. It is also another step in the right direction for UMass Boston, as it continues to seek ways to fulfill its urban mission.

The staff for the project, along with Sevian, includes Professors Robert Chen and Arthur Eisenkraft, recognizes the academic needs of students across Boston. It should also be noted that the presenter of the grant, Senator Ted Kennedy, is still striving to ensure that the measures in the No Child Left Behind Act are met, even if his partner on the legislation, President George W. Bush, has all but abandoned it, noting it only, unsurprisingly, when it scores him political points.

“There are many important things that are happening in our state today and around this country but I doubt if there are very many that are as important as what’s happening here today, because what we are talking about is education, what we are talking about are the children here in Boston, what we are talking about is new opportunities to develop the very best in terms of science teachers and upgrade the old possibilities of science education,” Kennedy said.

With the grant in hand, work can begin. But the group involved can take a moment to breathe, smile, and congratulate itself for getting this far. Twelve million dollars does not come along every day. The project shows everyone wins when public higher education is recognized: the university, the professors, the state and city, and most importantly, the students, whether they be in middle school, high school, or our school. UMass, in continuing the improvement of Boston’s schools and its partnership with Northeastern and Boston Public Schools, appears enthusiastic to host this new beginning for Boston’s youth. With a goal that has the direction and guidance from a distinguished group of educators, the Boston Science Partnership sets the tone for academic success and achievement from our teachers and children.