Mass. Plan Would Make Districts Pay for Remediation

By Jessica L. Sandham

The Massachusetts board of higher education wants state districts to foot the bill when their graduates take college remedial courses to review material they should have learned in high school.

State lawmakers will soon consider the board's proposal to hold districts accountable for the expense of providing remedial reading, writing, and mathematics courses to students attending public colleges and universities.

If a district superintendent "gets an invoice for $14,000 from the university system for the cost of these classes, that's going to raise some eyebrows," board Chairman James Carlin said. He added that the policy would give districts an extra incentive to provide students with a strong...