AIM Honors MBAE

Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) announced on April 12 that it will honor the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE) with its Legacy of Leadership Award at the association’s 98th annual meeting on May 10th, in recognition of MBAE’s 25 years of work to improve the quality of public education for all of the Commonwealth’s young people.

In 1988, under the leadership of the late Jack Rennie, CEO of Pacer Systems and an AIM director, MBAE brought together concerned employers to advocate for improvement of the state’s public schools (K-12). Their report, Every Child a Winner, provided the framework for the landmark Education Reform Act of 1993 which called for higher standards for student learning; accountability for performance and success; and adequate and equitable school funding.

“Over the years MBAE has worked to represent the employer community in supporting the implementation of the 1993 law and to advocate for further reforms driven by data and evidence of results,” said Richard Lord, AIM’s president and CEO. Recent examples, Lord said, included issuing a report on school finances that provided an impetus for the reform of municipal health insurance, advocating legislation that raised the charter school cap in targeted districts and expanded management authority for turning around lowest performing schools, and tracking progress of the state’s Race to the Top initiative.

In the context of “Legacy of Leadership,” MBAE is notable not only for its organizational role as the trusted source for the employer perspective on education issues, but also for its record of bringing forward business people into position of leadership. It nominates and recruits business members for advisory boards, commissions and task forces that advise state government, and also for national advisory boards. Several members of MBAE’s board have served on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, including its current chair, Maura Banta of IBM; while cofounder Paul Reville served until recently as Secretary of Education.

“The quality of MBAE’s work over the years is one reason why the three leading statewide business organizations – AIM, the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, pursue their education agenda through MBAE,”  Lord noted.

In conclusion, said Lord, “The work undertaken by MBAE during the past 25 years has contributed significantly to raising our student achievements scores to the highest in the nation, and MBAE will continue to speak for Massachusetts employers as we strive to close the achievement gaps the persist in some of our schools, and to match and surpass international competitors.