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MassLive
Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, D-Boston, a former Education Committee chair and a leader on education funding reform, said, “This bill stands as our commitment that, in Massachusetts, zip code must not be destiny.”
By Shira Schoenberg | Oct 03, 2019
Video/Media
"Our session today continues nearly a half-century of work for educational equity. And this bill would not exist without the generations of Bay Staters who tirelessly and passionately kept the cause alive. Who saw the work ahead and never gave up, even when political insiders believed the issue was dead."
Oct 03, 2019
News
Fulfilling the promise of public education as the great equalizer is our next big goal. Bay Staters believe in it. It’s a goal our constitution anchors us to. Now, that collective effort in advocating, crafting policy, and working together has given us a chance to deliver on it.
By Sonia Chang-Díaz | Sep 30, 2019
News
MassLive
Chang-Diaz noted that mass shootings, especially those involving middle-class white children, make headlines. But she asked fellow lawmakers to have that same “sense of horror, unacceptance, urgency when shootings happen in Dorchester or Roxbury or Springfield or Holyoke or other urban communities, when the child’s riddled body is black or brown and their family is low-income, doing their best to make ends meet.”
By Shira Schoenberg | Aug 28, 2019
News
Dorchester Reporter
“There’s no reason it had to be this way, the situation we find ourself in now is due to years of deferred maintenance. Deferring maintenance is a habit that State leaders need to break,” Chang-Diaz said.
By Katie Trojano | Aug 14, 2019
News
MassLive
“At what point does ‘we’re working on it’ become justice delayed and denied?” Chang-Diaz said the Senate has passed the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission multiple times. “The Legislature has had nearly four years to consider the recommendations — that’s half a kid’s elementary school years,” she said. “There’s no good reason that students will go back to school with no foundation funding plan in place.”
By Shira Schoenberg | Jul 31, 2019
Video/Media
On July 1st, Sen. Chang-Díaz joined more than 300 volunteers across the MBTA system to canvass to stop the new #UnfairHikes.
Jul 01, 2019
News
Dorchester Reporter
In an extended interview during and after The Horse Race podcast last week, Chang-Díaz told the Reporter that the dramatic funding boost is necessary to fully meet the state’s obligation to provide a quality education to its students while grappling with the greater cost of educating disadvantaged children. It expands on the bipartisan though last-minute efforts of the last cycle.
By Jennifer Smith | Jun 27, 2019
News
MassLive
Chang-Diaz said the difference in funding between the PROMISE Act and Baker’s plan is “stark” and represents the difference between a school district hiring a fraction of a school counselor or starting a quality preschool program.
Public school advocates have $950 million incentive to lobby for education funding bill, study finds
By Shira Schoenberg | Jun 17, 2019
Press Release
Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz has announced neighborhood office hours for June 2019.
Jun 08, 2019
News
The Boston Globe
The nascent legal pot industry is dominated by white players and out-of-state corporations. Enter state Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz.
May 17, 2019
News
Energy News Network
“I want to fix it because it is just plain unfair,” said state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, the bill’s sponsor in the Senate.
By Sarah Shemkus | Apr 25, 2019
News
Boston Herald
“Massachusetts still has one of the worst achievement gaps in the nation between rich and poor students,” state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz said in her testimony. “Everybody knows that money alone won’t do it, but we also know that you can’t do it without money.”
By Mary Markos | Mar 22, 2019
News
Boston Patch
During eight hours of testimony, hundreds took to the mic to indicate their support for the PROMISE Act.
By Jenna Fisher | Mar 22, 2019
Video/Media
It is past time to implement a sensible, effective plan to fix our broken education funding system.
Mar 22, 2019
Press Release
Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz has announced neighborhood office hours for February 2019. Office Hours, held by Sen. Chang-Díaz and her staff, will take place within each of the neighborhoods of the Second Suffolk District.
Feb 04, 2019
News
Jamaica Plain Gazette
JP Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz took the podium at the 49th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast in the South Boston Convention Center and used the shining light of Dr. King’s example to call for another local fight for justice – that being the justice of equal education funding.
By Seth Daniel | Jan 27, 2019
News
Boston.com
Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, the lead sponsor of the PROMISE Act, says it “isn’t about providing ‘new’ or ‘extra’ funds. It's about making good on what we've already promised.”
By Nik DeCosta-Klipa | Jan 11, 2019
News
The Boston Globe
Seeking to accelerate Beacon Hill’s often glacial pace, Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz on Wednesday rolled out a revamped version of the Senate’s funding bill from last session alongside four dozen legislators, mayors, and other advocates gathered behind the podium.
By Victoria McGrane | Jan 10, 2019
Press Release
Educators, local leaders, and state legislators united at the State House today to call for passage of the Education PROMISE Act in 2019. The bill is backed by a broad coalition of students, teachers, parents, superintendents, school committees, legislators, and experts from the heart of Boston to the outskirts of Western Massachusetts.
Jan 09, 2019
News
State House News Service
Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Boston Democrat who was the main architect of the Senate's $1 billion school funding bill last year, Wednesday morning filed a similar bill -- dubbed the Education Promise Act -- that includes language addressing some concerns raised with the previous version.
By Katie Lannan | Jan 09, 2019
News
WBUR
State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz has again put forward an ambitious bill to increase funding for Massachusetts public schools. Again, a large and vocal coalition has assembled behind it.
By Max Larkin | Jan 09, 2019
News
Politico
"Every year that we wait as a legislature to act on a highly-vetted, highly-researched, highly-debated road map that this bipartisan group of experts has given us, is a year that students can't get back," Chang-Díaz told me in a recent interview.
By Stephanie Murray | Jan 07, 2019
News
U.S. News & World Report
"I'm proud to see this important civics education bill signed into law," Massachusetts state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Democrat who heads the Joint Committee on Education, said during the signing. "In light of recent reports of voter suppression and the perilous state of our country's civic and political life today, this legislation is especially critical."
By Lauren Camera | Nov 23, 2018
Press Release
Office Hours, held by Sen. Chang-Díaz and her staff, will take place within each of the neighborhoods of the Second Suffolk District.
Oct 30, 2018
Video/Media
How long should poor children have to wait while we continue “studying,” rather than simply giving them the resources they need to learn?
Jul 11, 2018
News
WBUR
Chang-Diaz and others who served said emphatically that the FBRC did not rank its four priorities, and wanted all four met in one fell swoop.
By Max Larkin | Jul 11, 2018
News
State House News Service
Sen. Kathleen O'Connor Ives, a Newburyport Democrat, and Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Boston Democrat, also addressed the protesters gathered outside Baker's office together. Chang-Diaz had her toddler son strapped to her chest.
By Matt Murphy & Colin Young | Jun 20, 2018
Statement
"If anyone tells you that today’s Supreme Court decision means the end of the Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC) bill, they haven’t read the bill."
Jun 18, 2018
News
State House News Service
Stronger laws are needed to address illegally obtained guns, Chang-Diaz said, telling her colleagues that if they think the inconvenience of limiting individuals to purchasing no more than 15 firearms a year is too much then she would invite them to join her at next funeral of teen in her district.
By Katie Lannan | Jun 07, 2018
Press Release
Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz has announced neighborhood office hours for the Summer of 2018. Office Hours, held by Sen. Chang-Díaz and her staff, will take place within each of the neighborhoods of the Second Suffolk District.
Jun 06, 2018
News
Jamaica Plain Gazette
Recently, I was thrilled to stand on the Senate floor as every single one of my fellow Senators voted in favor of passing deeply-needed reforms to our K-12 education funding system. The bill has now moved to the House.
By Sonia Chang-Díaz | May 25, 2018
News
The Boston Globe
“It’s a huge historical turning point for our state when you set it in the context of the last several decades,” said Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz, a Jamaica Plain Democrat and longtime proponent of many of the changes in the package.
By Joshua Miller | Apr 04, 2018
News
The Boston Globe
The state also could do more to track the effectiveness of the many tax credit programs it has, said state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz.
By Tim Logan | Feb 24, 2018
Press Release
Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz has announced neighborhood office hours for the Spring of 2018. Office Hours, held by Sen. Chang-Díaz and her staff, will take place within each of the neighborhoods of the Second Suffolk District.
Feb 23, 2018
News
State House News Service
Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Jamaica Plain Democrat, said Baker's proposed increase in aid to local school districts -- known as Chapter 70 aid -- in next year's budget is "just plain inadequate for the job."
By Katie Lannan | Jan 24, 2018
News
Jamaica Plain News
At the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast held in Boston, state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz passionately called for the passing of a bill that would provide criminal justice reform.
By David Ertischek | Jan 15, 2018
News
Bay State Banner
In 2017, the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus prioritized and pushed forward significant pieces of legislation....This year’s legislative session will see Caucus members continue the enactment of these bills and submit new policies that will improve the lives of residents of color.
By Karen Morales | Jan 05, 2018
News
Mission Hill Gazette
“I take the frustration and sadness from these meetings to push legislation through. There is very little that policy workers can do in the immediate term,” Chang-Diaz said. “The things I can do is push legislation through to prevent this five years from now. But I have to bring that pain and that fire to the hearts of legislators from other districts that don’t have this happen to their children.”
By Emily Resnevic | Jan 05, 2018
Video/Media
Despite the ugly policies being proposed in Washington, we were able to score major victories at the state level in Massachusetts this year. Now is the time to double-down on our progress and keep working to make sure the legislature passes key immigration and education bills.
Dec 29, 2017
News
Jamaica Plain News
State Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz fought hard for the bill to pass, particularly because she knows bilingualism is an essential skill for career growth, college readiness and to enable students to be competitive in the global economy.
By David Ertischek | Dec 11, 2017
Statement
Sexual assault and sexual harassment must not be tolerated under any circumstances.
By Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz | Dec 03, 2017
News
Mission Hill Gazette
“This bill is a huge step forward for English language instruction in our Commonwealth,” said local state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, co-chair of the LOOK bill conference committee and Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Education, according to the press release.
By Peter Shanley | Dec 01, 2017
