Forget the prepared opening and closing statements: here are the paraphrased answers that each Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial candidate gave tonight to questions posed by the JFK Jr. Forum audience. This is your “digest” version of the candidate roundtable. Candidates are named in the order they sat on stage, also the order of the picture below:
Joseph Avellone, Donald Berwick, Martha Coakley, Steve Grossman, Juliette Kayyem
Education: How will we fix the achievement gap?
Joseph Avellone: We should lengthen the school day and provide resources for certain communities in need, such as multi-lingual or working class communities.
Donald Berwick: Let’s move away from the focus on testing alone. We should also be supporting higher education across the state.
Martha Coakley: Let’s focus on problems outside of school using social services and other resources. Let’s also offer skills like computer science and use technology in classrooms.
Steve Grossman: We should bring “digital learning” to classes, offer universal pre-K (raising taxes if necessary), and create a “universal teaching corps,” which offers scholarships to college sophomores if they commit to teaching.
Juliette Kayyem: Offering universal pre-K will address the achievement gap by preparing students for the public education system from kindergarten onward.
What services should we focus on to address the growing problem of mental illness?
Joseph Avellone: Let’s use organized systems of care that focus on holistic medicine, including mental health services. Our parity law requires that mental health treatments receive the same attention as physical health treatments.
Donald Berwick: Re-organize services based on what people need by moving toward an integrated system. Also, change the payment system. The goal should be a 50 percent reduction in substance abuse and suicide in 10 years by focusing on public health.
Martha Coakley: We all know someone with a mental health problem. We should focus on primary care, especially for veterans, and try to identify illness earlier.
Steve Grossman: In recent years, we’ve cut mental health services relative to other states. As a reflection of our values, we need to re-invest in care, possibly by raising revenue. We should keep asking young people: what kind of commonwealth do we want to be?
Juliette Kayyem: Military veterans are especially vulnerable to mental illness, and many are becoming incarcerated as a result. Let’s use veterans’ courts to alleviate the problem. Teens are also vulnerable as a result of bullying.
What are your specific plans for identifying children with health, educational, and other needs?
Joseph Avellone: Where can we intervene in the cycle of poverty and criminal behavior? Focus on youth violence. Gang diversion programs can help identify particularly at-risk kids. Summer jobs, community policing, and re-entry programs can all help.
Donald Berwick: I want to lead a project, on a voluntary basis, where any town that wants to can focus on at-risk youth in poverty: we’ll focus on gangs, mental health, physical health, and poverty.
Martha Coakley: Let’s identify problems through school: teachers know what students are going through. Schools hold us together and can identify necessary services for students.
Steve Grossman: Let’s focus on employment and poverty legislation. The availability of poverty-related services should start at birth. We should also offer arts in schools.
Juliette Kayyem: Government, especially Democrats, should be embracing big data as a governmental tool. Caseworkers can benefit from data analytics resources. Let’s also focus on breaking the cycle of poverty and promoting economic mobility.
How exactly would you pay for all of this?
Joseph Avellone: I’ll be the governor to control healthcare costs, by bringing efficiencies to the system. Even a one percent reduction over 10 years is $1 billion. By moving away from fee-for-service programs and moving toward doctor teams, we can control costs without raising taxes.
Donald Berwick: Single payer care can reduce administration costs. Special interest tax exemptions that don’t result in new jobs will be eliminated. We need a more progressive tax system.
Martha Coakley: Let’s focus on smarter investments. As the economy turns around, we’ll have more to spend, but we should be focusing on getting $10 in benefits for every $1 spent.
Steve Grossman: These initiatives are going to cost a lot of money. Over 40 percent of the state budget goes to healthcare expenditures: we should focus on lowering this. Besides that, there are four ways: growing the economy, saving money, public-private partnerships, and “leading a conversation about” raising taxes.
Juliette Kayyem: A budget is a reflection of our values. How can we “move around pools of money?” How can we grow the economy? Like Steve Grossman said, we need to have a conversation about raising taxes.
Image Credit: Ross Svenson