Mass. Organization of Educational Collaboratives (MOEC): Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Special Education with a 10-Part Television News Series Throughout 2025

To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Special Education in the United States, John Guilfoil Public Relations (JGPR) pitched and secured a 10-part television series spanning the entirety of 2025. The Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives (MOEC) hired JGPR to showcase its members and their difficult but extraordinary work educating children with significant disabilities.

JGPR pitched the series to Boston 25 News’ Kerry Kavanaugh, who partnered with our team to tell the stories of collaboratives across the state throughout the year. JGPR arranged interviews with dozens of students, families, and educators to facilitate the series. We worked with Kavanaugh, an award-winning Boston 25 Anchor and Investigative Reporter, to produce the series, which included primetime news broadcasts and an hour-long finale. JGPR also produced a series of owned media stories, photo galleries, and videos/reels to accompany the television coverage, for publication on the MOEC and member collaboratives’ websites.

Prior to the 2025 news series, the strategies used in some of the Special Education Collaboratives in Massachusetts were called into question by several recent negative stories in the media, led by a small group of activist parents. The unbalanced news stories targeted providers of special education repeatedly, leveling false and unfair accusations and failing to capture the true stories emerging from the Commonwealth’s public education institutions that provide special education services.

Massachusetts boasts the highest performing public schools in the nation, and a half-century after the launch of modern special education in the U.S., JGPR set out to highlight just how far we have come in Massachusetts in such a short span of time, due in no small part to the tremendous work of the Special Education Collaboratives. Collaboratives are staffed by highly trained professionals who educate and provide loving care and support for some of the most critically/chronically ill, fragile, mentally ill, abused, and/or cognitively/developmentally disabled children in the state.

JGPR interviewed a broad spectrum of students with disabilities, parents and collaborative-employed educators, aiming to share these stories with the largest possible audience.

Campaign work began in late 2024, with interviews with collaborative educators across the state. Stories were carefully chosen and pitched to Boston 25.

JGPR then arranged interviews with the story subjects for a Boston 25 reporter and videographer, resulting in nine primetime news segments and an hour-long special, providing MOEC and its member collaboratives with unprecedented and deserved positive media exposure. 

Throughout 2025, JGPR also produced nine feature news releases that the client shared with its member organizations.

The year-long series resulted in over 35 total television clips, an audience of 71 million, and an estimated publicity value of $1.2 million across social media, television, and print.