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Real World Readiness: Making Every Brockton Diploma Count

Real World Readiness: Making Every Brockton Diploma Count

by | Aug 27, 2025 | Press Release | 0 comments

A Diploma That Opens Doors, Not Collects Dust

Once upon a time, a high school diploma carried weight. It signaled that a young person was ready—ready for college, ready for a trade, ready for military service, ready to be a productive citizen. It wasn’t just a piece of paper. It was a launchpad for life.

In Brockton today, too many diplomas don’t carry that weight. Students are handed certificates, but behind the tassels and applause, too many are unprepared for the real world. They leave high school and immediately find themselves lost: unready for college coursework, disconnected from trade opportunities, and lacking the life skills they need to succeed on their own.

This is not a failure of our kids—it’s a failure of leadership and of a system that values bureaucracy over outcomes. Every year this continues, another class of graduates is robbed of their futures.

This campaign isn’t about tweaking policies around the edges. It’s about restoring the value of a diploma. It’s about making sure every Brockton student leaves school ready to succeed in college, careers, service, and civic life. It’s about real world readiness.

Read my full Real World Readiness plan

The Crisis We Can’t Ignore

College Readiness is Broken

Too many Brockton students are walking across the graduation stage only to hit a wall when they arrive at college. According to national data, nearly 65% of community college students require remedial coursework before they can take credit-bearing classes (Community College Research Center, Columbia University).

That means families are paying tuition—often with loans—just to relearn high school material. Massachusetts is no exception. Reports from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education show that more than one-third of public college students in the state require remediation, with rates even higher in urban districts like Brockton.

Every remedial class is wasted time and wasted money. It’s a betrayal of parents who thought that diploma meant readiness.

A Bold Pathway for Brockton’s Best Students

But readiness isn’t just about catching up struggling students—it’s also about creating opportunities for our best students to leap ahead. We should be offering an Early College Plus pathway where motivated students can graduate not just with a high school diploma, but also with an associate’s degree through a partnership with a local college.

That would allow graduates to enter a four-year college as juniors, saving families two full years of tuition and freeing students to focus their time and money on postgraduate education, professional programs, or advanced certifications.

This is how we reward ambition, build excellence, and ensure that Brockton families see a real return on their investment in education.

Trades Ignored

While our schools push college as the default path, Massachusetts employers are begging for skilled workers. Construction, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, nursing, and manufacturing are all facing shortages. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average electrician in Massachusetts earns over $78,000 a year (BLS, 2023).

Yet Brockton students are not being connected to these opportunities. Vocational pathways are limited, apprenticeships are rare, and partnerships with local unions or businesses are underdeveloped. Students who don’t want or need a four-year degree are left without clear options.

That’s wasted potential—and in a working-class city like Brockton, it’s a crime against our kids’ futures.

Life Skills Missing

Ask parents what frustrates them most, and many will say: “My kid graduated, but they don’t know how to manage life.”

They can memorize formulas or write essays, but they don’t know how to:

  • Budget their money.
  • Fill out a tax return.
  • Understand credit, debt, or interest.
  • Communicate professionally with employers.
  • Show up on time, every time.

According to the Council for Economic Education, only half of U.S. states require a personal finance course for graduation. Massachusetts is not one of them (Council for Economic Education, 2023). That means students are leaving school without the most basic skills they need to survive in an economy where one mistake with credit cards or loans can set them back for years.

This is not optional anymore. Financial literacy and life skills must be graduation requirements.

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Civics Abandoned

Our Founding Fathers believed that education was for citizenship. Yet today, civics is an afterthought.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Civics Assessment shows that less than 25% of students are proficient in civics (NCES, 2022). That means the majority of young Americans don’t understand how government works, how laws are made, or why their vote matters.

The result? We are graduating a generation less prepared to lead, less engaged in their communities, and more vulnerable to misinformation. In a city like Brockton—with its proud history and vibrant immigrant communities—failing to teach civics is failing to build citizens.

Fundamentals Forgotten

Even the basics have been tossed aside. Cursive writing is gone. Phonics has been replaced by fads. Grammar and spelling have been watered down.

Some laugh off cursive as old-fashioned. But studies show that cursive improves brain development, literacy, and memory retention (Psychology Today, 2020). It also connects students to history, enabling them to read founding documents and personal letters from eras that shaped our country.

When we abandon fundamentals, we send the wrong message: that the basics don’t matter. But they do. Strong foundations build strong futures.

Why Real World Readiness Matters for Everyone

This isn’t just about students. It’s about families, employers, taxpayers, and the entire community.

  • For Families: A diploma without readiness is a broken promise. Parents are forced to pay for remediation or watch their children struggle in adulthood.
  • For Employers: Businesses can’t fill jobs. Massachusetts employers consistently report shortages in both STEM fields and the trades (MassHire Workforce Board Data, 2024). That hurts the local economy.
  • For Taxpayers: When kids graduate unprepared, costs don’t disappear. They shift to remedial programs, welfare, and retraining.
  • For Communities: Without civics, personal responsibility, and communication skills, civic life suffers. We need prepared, engaged citizens to keep democracy strong.

What Works: Lessons from Elsewhere

Vocational Partnerships

Worcester expanded school-to-apprenticeship pipelines in construction and manufacturing. The result? Higher graduation rates, better job placement, and more satisfied employers (Massachusetts DESE Report, 2023).

Financial Literacy Requirements

Florida mandated financial literacy for all high school students in 2022. The state recognized that money management is not optional—it’s essential for independence. Massachusetts should follow suit.

Dual Enrollment

National studies show students in dual enrollment programs are 30% more likely to graduate college than their peers (NCES, 2021). Massachusetts has expanded early college programs statewide, but Brockton hasn’t taken full advantage.

My Plan for Real World Readiness

As your Ward 1 School Committee representative, I will fight for:

  1. Core Academics with Accountability
    Rigorous literacy and math benchmarks. No excuses, no watered-down diplomas.
  2. Career & Trade Pathways
    Partner with unions, trade schools, and local businesses to build direct pipelines into skilled trades and apprenticeships.
  3. Early College Opportunities
    Expand dual-enrollment access so ambitious students can earn college credits and save families money.
  4. Financial Literacy & Civics Requirements
    Make personal finance and civics graduation requirements. Students should leave knowing how to manage money and their responsibilities as citizens.
  5. Life Skills in Every Classroom
    Integrate communication, professionalism, problem-solving, and responsibility into the curriculum.
  6. Bring Back Fundamentals
    Restore cursive, phonics, grammar, and spelling. Fundamentals matter.
  7. Parental Empowerment
    Parents are not spectators—they must have a voice in shaping readiness programs.
  8. Choice & Competition
    Families deserve options: vocational, charter, early college, and beyond. Real readiness means real choice.

Closing: A Future Worth Fighting For

Right now, too many Brockton diplomas are empty promises. Students graduate unprepared, families are frustrated, employers are short-staffed, and taxpayers are asked to pay more for less.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can restore the value of a diploma. We can prepare students for the real world—with academics, trades, life skills, civics, and fundamentals that matter.

This election is about more than one seat on a committee. It’s about whether we keep lowering standards—or fight to raise them. It’s about whether we accept wasted futures—or demand readiness for every child.

On Election Day, let’s send a clear message: No more empty diplomas. No more wasted futures. Let’s make every Brockton diploma count.

Get your yard sign and show your support

College Readiness / Remediation

Trades / Workforce Shortages

Financial Literacy / Life Skills

Civics Education

Fundamentals / Cursive

Early College / Dual Enrollment

Case Studies / Vocational Programs

  • Massachusetts DESE – Vocational Technical Education Report 2023 (outcomes for Worcester, Lowell, and other districts)
    https://www.doe.mass.edu/cte/

Stephen Pina

Stephen Pina is a Brockton native, veteran of the U.S. Army Airborne Rangers, former federal executive, father, husband, and small business owner. He holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Suffolk University and a Master of Science in Criminology from American International College. He currently serves as CEO of FulFillX LLC and operates Mammoth Marketers, a local digital agency.

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