JET Meets State Senator Mike Rodrigues

It was a pleasure to meet state Senator Mike Rodrigues at the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network meeting in Boston on October 11, 2019 where he was guest speaker. Senator Rodrigues is chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. He gave us a run-down on the legislative agenda. First on the list is the Education Reform bill, which seeks to ameliorate inequity among school districts with regard to both funding and the student achievement gap.

Senator Rodrigues believes in the mission of JET and how we are working to address equity in urban classrooms. He understands the importance of building diverse community teacher pipelines in urban schools. He takes particular note of JET’s work in Fall River and New Bedford, his constituent communities. He has first hand knowledge of Fall River schools where his wife worked as a paraprofessional for many years until retiring this past June. Moreover Senator Rodrigues shared with me that he was the first in his family to graduate from college, as are many JET paraprofessionals who become teachers.

I am so glad to have had the opportunity to thank him personally for his support of the JET budget amendment, which was successfully adopted into the state FY 20 budget. JET looks forward to serving his local constituents and those in urban areas state-wide.