I hope you are all enjoying the summer-like weather. This has been a packed week for us in the Legislature as I led the Senate in passing an expand HERO Act bill.
Monday evening, I had the honor attending a virtual summit to discuss how we can combat the spike in antisemitism happening at K-12 schools across our commonwealth. Together, Jewish students, parents and teachers from across Massachusetts bravely shared their personal experiences of enduring antisemitic acts at their schools. During the virtual summit, I had an opportunity to share information about my amendment adopted to the Senate’s FY25 budget, that would instruct the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to put together curriculum, resources and professional development materials that can be utilized by teachers across our state to teach students about the harms of antisemitism. Our state is experiencing an alarming rise in this sort of hate, and we need to make sure that our Jewish neighbors, friends and families feel safe and secure in their own communities.
On Tuesday evening, my office joined Westfield’s Bridge to Adulthood ceremony to celebrate 11 students who recently graduated from the community-based transition services this year. This is an incredible milestone in all of these young adults’ lives, and I was proud to have had my office share citations with each student to commemorate their accomplishments. Congratulations, I can’t wait to see all that you each accomplish next!
