New England News

   Massachusetts education officials say the 2012 MCAS results show improvement by students in several of the state’s worst schools.  WAMC”s Paul Tuthill reports.

   In Springfield, which had ten of the state’s 35 so called “Level 4” schools in 2010, gains were made in math and English test scores  at four  of the struggling elementary schools, according to Springfield School Superintendent Daniel Warwick.

The outgoing head of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health department says he believes a "single rogue chemist" was responsible for the mishandling of drug evidence at a now-closed state laboratory.

Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach spoke to reporters on Wednesday for the first time since announcing plans to resign in the wake of the scandal.

Auerbach said he personally accepted no responsibility for what occurred, but thought it proper to resign because as head of the agency, the buck stopped with him.

Great Barrington is now a sister-city with a community in West Africa. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard has more…

Great Barrington has become twins with Fada N’Gourma, a city of similar size in Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is a landlocked country about the size of Colorado in Western Africa.

       MCAS scores for individual districts and schools will be released in Massachusetts Wednesday. WAMC’s Paul Tuthill reports

   The statewide results reported earlier this week were mixed. The overall 2012 MCAS scores were the highest in the 14 year history of the standardized testing in Massachusetts. But third grade reading proficiency was stagnant. Holyoke School Superintendent David Dupont said children who can read by age 9 are much less likely to become high school drop outs

Officials in Springfield Massachusetts have agreed to changes in a casino selection competition to address concerns about the timetable that were  raised last week by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. It will likely push back until next summer a voter referendum on a casino in Springfield..  WAMC’s  Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.