Last week, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts stopped voters from weighing in on a citizen-backed initiative to repeal Common Core.
In her opinion, Chief Justice Margot Botsford blocked on a technicality the petition to let voters decide whether to keep Common Core or revert to the state's own educational standards. Her reasoning? The measure, she wrote, was unconstitutional because the portion of the ballot question that required the state to release used test items is unrelated to the transparency of state tests.
Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday afternoon signed into law legislation to guarantee access to public facilities, including sex-segregated bathrooms and locker rooms based on their self-selected gender identity.
"No one should be discriminated against in Massachusetts because of their gender identity," Baker said in a statement announcing he'd signed the bill. "This compromise legislation extends additional protections to the Commonwealth's transgender community, and includes language to address the public safety concerns expressed by some by requiring the Attorney General to issue regulations to protect against people abusing the law."
