Yesterday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney had the opportunity to revisit his youth. Romney went back to high school and spent the day as a teacher’s assistant at The Media and Technology Charter High School on Commonwealth Avenue.
Coming just days before the primaries, the visit reinforced the focus of Romney’s educational plan.
“I want more charter schools, particularly in districts that are having a hard time,” he said. “It’s a tragedy how many kids we leave behind in our system.”
The development of charter schools helps address an area where public schools are failing, Romney said, because the schools attack “the educational gap between urban and suburban areas.”
The goal of Romney’s education plan, entitled “K-Job,” is to prepare students for life beyond the 12th grade and provide them with “the skills to get a job and take care of themselves.” As part of the plan, Romney noted he will “focus on our schools and give kids in minority communities the same opportunities as others.”
During Romney’s day with the students at MATCH, the former businessman assisted teachers in math class and shared his experiences as the President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Romney passed around the Olympic Torch and described the Olympics as “the greatest thrill of his life.”
He related the Olympic theme, “Light the Fire Within,” to the students and their education. “The fire, passion and will to succeed” that he saw at the Olympics can be applicable in the classroom, he said. He emphasized the importance of being “dedicated in what we do, not necessarily as an Olympian, but as a citizen.”
As a Massachusetts charter school, the MATCH school admits students by a lottery system and provides a tuition-free education. School funding is split between private and public sources. The MATCH school opened in September, 2000 and now has a student body of 160, serving grades 9-11. It recently moved to its location on Commonwealth Avenue on the corner of Babcock Street.
The visit to MATCH is part of Romney’s “Work Day” campaign, in which he travels and participates in daily work alongside the citizens of Massachusetts. Along the trail, Romney’s experiences have ranged from selling sausages outside Fenway Park to working on the Big Dig.
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