Representative Peisch

Speaking to a gathering of pediatric and early education professionals at the recent Reach Out and Read conference in Worcester, Representative Alice Hanlon Peisch, co-chair of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education, called closing the achievement gap her major priority.

“It’s abundantly clear that it’s much more difficult for that to happen if a child isn’t exposed early to reading,” Peisch said. “The one [bill] that is of most importance to this group is one filed by Representative Walz and Senator Clark, An Act Relative to Third Grade Reading Proficiency.”

A few days earlier, Peisch had expanded on her views in an interview in her Beacon Hill Office. She is one of 61 cosponsors of An Act Relative to Reading Proficiency (H.1853 /S.188).

Prior to her election to the state Legislature in 2003, Peisch (D-Wellesley) served on the Wellesley School Committee for six years, including four years as chairwoman. She also served as town clerk and on the town’s finance committee. She has been a town meeting member since 1989 and continues to serve on the Newton-Wellesley Hospital Board of Overseers. She was a board member of the Wellesley Education Foundation from 1999-2005 and since then has served on the foundation’s advisory board.  She is a member of the League of Women Voters of Wellesley. Peisch earned a BA from Smith College, a JD from Suffolk University Law School, and an MPA degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She and her co-chair, Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Boston), were appointed in January.

Below are excerpts (edited and condensed) from our conversation. Representative Peisch reveals her favorite children’s book at the end of this blog post.

Question: What are your priorities as co-chair of the Joint Committee on Education?

Answer: “We really want to keep our eye on closing the achievement gap. I’m certainly hopeful that we’ll see some results. I’m a big believer in giving every child in the commonwealth access to high-quality early education. Massachusetts has done a good job of improving education overall, but the achievement gap remains persistent. If we don’t close it, all our other problems will be exacerbated. High-quality early education is one of the few key areas where making progress should result in narrowing that gap. At the end of the day, if you are well-educated you are much more likely to be employed and lead a reasonably productive life.

“The challenge is making the long-term investment. It’s very difficult to take money from someone who’s hungry or homeless in order to invest in something that’s going to pay off 15 years down the road. I’m not familiar with anyone who is against early education. On the budget side, there are so many pressures and demands, particularly for health and human services, that being able to direct sufficient resources to this area will be difficult.”

Question: Could you please say more about how early education fits into your priorities?

Answer: “Quality. It’s access to quality. The fact that we are focused on early education and have an early education commissioner is indicative of our commitment to this, but there are still many children who don’t have the opportunity to access high-quality early education. When they start school, they’re frequently behind their peers. It’s a combination of continuing the supports and improving the supports for the training and education of caregivers as well as subsidizing spots for children who need the care.”

Question: What about reading proficiency?

Answer: “A child who comes to kindergarten without the benefit of any early education experience does not learn to read as quickly. The gap shows up in third grade. If children do not read by the end of third grade they’re at an enormous disadvantage. The degree to which we can ensure reading proficiency by the end of third grade will reduce the need for remedial services after third grade. There is a wide range of reasons why children drop out of school. It’s not always because they’re failing, but that’s one reason.

“The importance of ensuring that as many children as possible are reading at grade level by the end of third grade cannot be overstated. In general, I support initiatives that are designed to achieve that goal and have some evidence that they will work.”

Question: You mentioned other key areas, in addition to high-quality early education, that have been shown to help close the achievement gap. What are they?

Answer: “Out-of-school time, including the summer. Focusing on these three areas has a potential to have a tremendous impact on closing the achievement gap.”

Question: How has your experience prepared you to co-chair the education committee?

Answer:  “My school committee experience is perhaps of most value. I also understand municipal finance. At the mid-career program at the Kennedy School, I took an ed school course on federal education policy that focused on the achievement gap. I found the research and reading I did for that course to be very helpful for many of the issues the committee is dealing with. As a lawyer, I have an appreciation of the statutes. The legal background is helpful for any legislative position.”

First Pages. As has become my habit, I asked Representative Peisch about her favorite children’s book because, in all this talk about research, policy and practice, it’s important not to lose sight of the lasting magic of early experiences with reading. Peisch’s favorite children’s book is Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses.”

“My mother used to read it to me. The poems are very short. They’re easy,” she said. “All three of my children, I would read to them. During the course of the day, if they looked out the window and there was a bird, I might repeat the poem about ‘a birdie with a yellow bill.’”

Here is the first poem:

Bed in Summer

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

(See favorite children’s books of other leaders: Commissioner Sherri Killins, Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care; JD Chesloff, deputy director of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable and chairman of EEC Board; Speaker Robert DeLeo, Massachusetts House of Representatives; Dr. Gregory Hagan, president, Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Kathleen McCartney, dean, Harvard Graduate School of Education.)