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Date: 12/18/2023
EASTHAMPTON — State Rep. Dan Carey (D-Easthampton) was recently named legislator of the year by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and was honored with the award during the Easthampton School Committee’s Dec. 12 meeting.
Presenting Carey with the award was Devin Sheehan, former president of MASC and the 2025 president of the National School Boards Association.
“We’re very fortunate to have someone, not only from Western Mass., but also from the Pioneer Valley and a former school committee member being the House member receiving legislator of the year,” he said.
Sheehan added that he has known Carey since he was a member of the Easthampton School Committee.
“He started in the right place and got his foundation in the right place, and has been so fortunate to join the Legislature and be a voice for Easthampton, Hadley, South Hadley and Granby, but also for Western Mass. and has shown great leadership to support public education and to support the students of Western Mass., the Pioneer Valley and Easthampton,” he said.
Carey recalled his start on the School Committee in 2013.
“I was elected in 2013 on my 29th birthday, and then I went to law school at night and had to make sure my class schedule didn’t conflict with the School Committee schedule because I wanted to make sure I was here serving the students and serving the community,” he said.
He said it “meant the world” to him to receive the award.
“It really has meant so much to me in all the work I’ve done. I always take with me the experiences from the School Committee. When you’re on the City Council, when you’re on the state Legislature people call you with their biggest problems and their greatest needs, and when they really need help. It can almost always be too emotional,” he said. “When it comes to peoples’ families, people’s students, people’s children, there’s nothing more important.”
In attendance when Carey received the award were the three senators he works with across his district, State Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield), State Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton) and State Sen. Jake Oliveira (D-Ludlow). Carey acknowledged that he has a unusual district by working with so many senators.
“What’s more unusual is the four of us being together. Usually I call Sen. Comerford if it’s about Hadley, I call Sen. Velis if it’s about Easthampton, Sen. Oliveira if it’s about Granby and South Hadley. To have all three of them here tonight really, really means a lot and just goes to show how important education is to Western Massachusetts,” he said.
Carey also thanked the School Committee for their work.
“I’ve sat in those seats, I know it’s a thankless job, I know it’s not easy to do it right and we’ve got a lot of good people in Western Massachusetts doing this job right,” he said.