Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPI" in English language version.
The pilot project, proposed by Senators Arthur E. Chase and Matthew J. Amorello, would enable between 50 and 100 students per grade to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute beginning in September 1993
The new Massachusetts Academy of Mathematics and Science would be the first such nonresidential, state-financed school of excellence to be housed at an existing college, said one sponsor, State Senator Arthur E. Chase, a Republican from Worcester.
The school was the dream of former state Sen. Arthur Chase. The state spends money on low-income students to help them but not enough was being done to help the high achievers, Chase said. "It's those who are the highest achievers," he said from his retirement home in Naples, Fla. "It's not the brightest, it's a school for highest achievers." He ran for office in 1991 on a platform of improving math and science education so when he took office he formed a bi-partisan caucus of legislators from central Massachusetts to develop political clout. He designed the concept for the academy based on a model of a school in North Carolina. Chase quickly understood he could not replicate the school. It had been built from the ground up and when he took office the state was facing a nearly $1 billion deficit, Chase said. He came up with the idea of a public-private partnership. "The thought came in my head, the best private colleges and universities in the country are right here in Massachusetts, why can't we team up and use some of their resources instead of rebuilding," Chase recalled. He met with college presidents in the Worcester area but only Jon Strauss, the then-president of WPI was interested in working on a school for high school students. "He recognized there are young people so bright, talented and motivated , they are not getting it at public schools," Chase said. "They don't have the courses available." Chase was afraid detractors would claim the concept was elitist and worked to keep news from leaking out. Salvatelli still chafes at the suggestion the school is elitist. The students come represent the spectrum of the socio-economic scale and are not even always the brightest, but they are motivated to work toward their goals, he said. The caucus helped slip $500,000 in the state education budget for the school that went unnoticed by most people the first year. The first class of students were seniors who took courses at WPI in 1992. Chase's fears were realized in the ensuing years when there was a call to cut its funding. "We didn't think it was going to survive the first couple years," Salvatelli said. The budget this year is $1.3 million. It works on such a small budget because WPI gives the school support services, nursing and rent-free space, Salvatelli said. "To me this is the love of my live and greatest thing I ever accomplished in public office," Chase said.
Such statistics have convinced Massachusetts state senator Arthur E. Chase that--especially in a state known for its high concentration of technology-based industry--something must be done to alter the bleak predictions for the scientific future of the U.S. His response will take shape in September with the opening of the Massachusetts Academy of Mathematics and Science, a state-funded public high school that will be located on the grounds of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Chase has designed this magnet school with the help of a wide range of concerned educational groups, and, with unanimous approval by the state board of education in hand, he is confident that the bill establishing the school will pass the state legislature in June and the school can open in September. Although this program incorporates several facets of other, established "magnet" science high schools across the country--such as the Bronx High School of Science in New York and the Durham-based North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM)--Chase believes that his plan, based on a public-private partnership with a large dose of community outreach built in, may be the best yet. "This is different and unique," says Chase. "We're going to establish this program at a fraction of the cost that most other states have spent, and we're getting more for our buck." Chase says the school will cost taxpayers roughly the same amount per student as other Massachusetts public schools and about half of what some magnet schools cost.
