Senator Ed Kennedy delivered his first speech on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon in support of a budget amendment he filed to secure $100,000 in the Senate’s FY20 budget for the study and design of a new STEM building on Middlesex Community College’s Lowell Campus. The amendment was subsequently adopted by his colleagues. The text of the speech follows:
Thank you, Madame President, and through you to the members.
I would like to begin by commending Chairman Rodrigues and the Committee on Ways & Means for putting forth a budget that reflects the values of the members of this chamber; delivering bold, meaningful investments in our Commonwealth and its future.
We have considered a range of thoughtful and worthy proposals in the course of our deliberations thus far, illustrating the demanding nature of the task at hand. However, the Chairman has risen to the occasion and I thank him for his leadership throughout this thorough process.
A plaque greeting students and visitors outside of Lowell High School, the oldest co-educational and racially-integrated public high school in the nation, describes education as “the most powerful lever of a democracy in raising the standard of its citizenship.”
Throughout my career in public service, I have closely subscribed to this belief, and have held that a government should be measured by its commitment to education.
As such, I am particularly pleased to join this chamber at a moment when attention is focused so intently on meeting this fundamental obligation of government and improving education in Massachusetts on all fronts.
As I rise for the first time as a member of this esteemed body, I request your attention to an amendment which will have a profound and indelible impact on educational opportunity in my district, amendment number 160 – “Middlesex Community College STEM Building.”
Passage of this amendment, which would provide $100,000 for the study and design of a new STEM building on Middlesex Community College’s Lowell campus, represents the first phase of a process to realize the long sought-after vision of a dedicated STEM facility at the college.
It is an imperative step toward strengthening the STEM talent pipeline in the region and delivering critical access for a more diverse body of students to a field of study and employment in which Massachusetts is positioned at the helm.
From its beginning, Lowell has been a destination for people from around the globe seeking a brighter future for themselves and their families; Education has always been key to the city’s success and its ability to reinvent and rebuild itself as the times and technology change.
In 1895, this body passed an act giving each of the Commonwealth’s four top textile manufacturing cities $25,000 with the caveat that each contribute an equal amount to the founding of a textile school in Lowell. The Lowell Textile School, which later became the Lowell Technological Institute and ultimately merged with Lowell State College to become the University of Lowell – now UMass Lowell, opened in October 1897 with 200 students.
“The importance of the training school in the mother textile city of America can hardly be overestimated,” C.J.H. Woodbury, Secretary of the New England Cotton Manufacturers’ Association said at the time.
Students came from Canada, Ohio, North Carolina, Mississippi, New York, and all of the New England states to study in Lowell; many stayed, using their education in the mills along the Merrimack River.
In 1967, the Lowell Trade School, now the Greater Lowell Technical High School was founded, giving high school students the opportunity to learn a trade such as plumbing, carpentry or auto repair in addition core academic classes; the school bolstered the number of skilled workers in the local workforce and has added fields of study over the years, including engineering technology, medical assisting, and computer aided drafting and design to meet the needs of employers.
Middlesex Community College has forged a similar path since its inception in 1970, adjusting and adding to its offerings to meet the needs of students and the job market.
In 1990, at the urging of U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas, Middlesex was among the first two-year colleges in the Commonwealth to create a Biotechnology program, in an effort to provide a workforce for the state’s budding biotech companies, who were forced to recruit workers from North Carolina. Today 200 students are enrolled in the program, which boasts a 100 percent placement rate in the biotech industry among graduates. 95 to 98 percent of Middlesex Community College Biotech grads continue their education while working in the field.
Middlesex Community College offers a variety of STEM areas of study in addition to Biotechnology including: Life Science, Physical Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Engineering Technology (CAD), Computer Forensics, Information Technology (IT), and Environmental Health. Graduates of these programs provide labor for local companies and health care facilities, as well as well-prepared transfer students to UMass Lowell and other 4-year colleges.
However, a 2015 DCAMM backed study demonstrated Middlesex Community College’s current science labs are oversubscribed and clearly identified the need for additional lab space. Current lab space is outdated and insufficient to keep up with Middlesex Community College’s student demand in these disciplines.
Therefore, the college, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, is seeking a new academic facility in Lowell with dedicated lab space to support an array of STEM programs that service the growing workforce needs of the region.
Life Sciences/Biotechnology is an unusually high growth field in the region. Middlesex County has the highest concentration of life science employers in the U.S. Additionally, the health care sector is also growing in Northeast Massachusetts, accounting for 16 percent of jobs.
Middlesex Community College’s Allied Health programs: Nursing, Dental Hygiene, Medical Assisting, and Dental Technology, would all benefit from improved science labs and students would be better prepared for the growing sector. In the Greater Lowell area, healthcare is projected to grow by more than 11 percent by 2024 and employ more than 20,000 people.
Today there are nearly 1,200 students enrolled in Middlesex Community College’s STEM programs. It is anticipated a new facility with improved and modernized science labs would dramatically boost those numbers by nearly 2,000 additional credit hours per semester, which would be equal to approximately $500,000 in additional revenue per semester.
The goal of the proposed STEM building is to create teaching environments that reflect the highest industry standards and expand Middlesex Community College’s capacity to prepare students for the high-demand regional workforce needs in STEM-based industries, through modernized science spaces including state of the art biology, chemistry, physics, and cybersecurity labs.
A new STEM facility would also address ADA and accessibility requirements for students who may experience physical or other barriers, as well as enhance fundamental parts of the teaching and learning experience for all learning styles where students can actively engage with curricula in state of the art classrooms and labs.
Massachusetts is positioned at the focal point of the STEM sector due to decades of dedicated partnerships between state and local government entities and private industry. It is our responsibility to ensure the opportunity to work and excel in those fields is available to all of our residents, regardless of socio-economic status or whether they are able to attend a two-year community college or a four-year university.
In my hometown of Lowell, Middlesex Community College already plays a critical role in providing educational opportunities for a diverse population that includes many who are foreign born. A new STEM facility in Lowell would expand opportunities to pursue this increasingly in-demand career path, unlocking access to STEM as a field of study and the economic opportunity that comes with it to a substantial and distinct cross section of students whose needs are best met by the flexibility of a two-year program.
As this chamber has long acknowledged, education is a true equalizer, the difference that can create lasting intergenerational mobility; the difference that can elevate the son or daughter of a refugee who comes to a Gateway City like Lowell with nothing but the clothes on his or her back to grow up to be a celebrated chemist or the CEO of a Biotech company.
Education drafts the blueprint of the American Dream – a blueprint that with each enhancement and revision raises the standard of this democracy’s citizenship.
Thank you for your time. I hope you will all join me in supporting this important amendment.
Following the speech, MCC President James Mabry said –
“With his proposed funding of an exploration study for a new science, technology, engineering and math building for Middlesex Community College, Senator Kennedy has laid the groundwork for 21st century learning opportunities for thousands of students who will be exploring STEM education on our campuses for decades to come. This proposed study will allow our college to make its first significant expansion in the STEM programs since we first moved into learning spaces in Lowell back in the 1990s.”
“Our campus goals, which are supported by the Senator’s efforts to spotlight our STEM programs, will allow us to create teaching environments that reflect the highest industry standards, remediate accessibility issues, and expand our capacity to prepare students for the high-demand workforce needs in regional STEM industries,” Mabry added. “I extend heartfelt thanks to Senator Kennedy on behalf of our Board of Trustees, as well as our outstanding faculty and staff and inspirational students.”
