THINK OF DANIELLE MILLER and Mary Tamer as the rock and hard place between which state and city leaders sit as they try to figure out a plan for the Boston Public Schools. Miller, the parent of a special needs student at the Clap Elementary School in Dorchester, told members of the state Board of […]
Boston public schools
Posted inEducation
Riley looking for pact with Boston, not receivership
STATE EDUCATION COMMISSIONER Jeff Riley said the Boston Public Schools face a “myriad of problems,” from special education and English language learner services in disarray to data systems reporting inaccurate student outcomes, but he made it clear on Tuesday that he is hoping to reach agreement with Mayor Michelle Wu on a plan to address […]
Posted inEducation
State review slams Boston schools
A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED new state review of the Boston Public Schools paints a picture of a system in deep disarray, where some of the problems identified in a state report two years ago have only worsened. While the new review identifies some areas of improvement since the last state report was issued, it portrays overall […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Riley forcing a reckoning on Boston schools
THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS are a mess, but it’s not clear what will or should be done about it. That’s the situation as the district approaches a moment of reckoning with state education officials, who have completed the second comprehensive review of the district in two years and are now contemplating what steps to take, […]
Posted inEducation
Boston mayoral candidates steer clear of firm goals for students
WHEN IT COMES to electing a mayor willing to take on the huge challenges facing the long-struggling Boston Public Schools, it seemed like this was the year that the stars might finally align. For the first time in nearly four decades, an open mayor’s race features two finalists who are also parents of children in […]
Posted inEducation
State to assert new oversight of Boston schools
STATE AND CITY leaders have agreed to an unusual plan for oversight of the long-struggling Boston public schools, one that keeps the district in local hands but will set firm goals for improvement and give state education commissioner Jeff Riley broad authority to monitor progress on a range of measures — and intervene if the […]
Posted inEducation
Boston paid $3.6M to winnow teachers from ‘excess pool’
IN A MOVE to cut costs and rid the school district of tenured teachers not getting hired for standard classroom positions, Boston quietly paid out about $3.6 million between 2013 and 2018 in voluntary severance agreements to 63 teachers who agreed to resign from the city’s school system. The settlements, negotiated between the Boston Public […]
Posted inEducation
Boston superintendent gets super relocation allowance
INCOMING BOSTON school superintendent Brenda Cassellius signed a three-year contract with the city that provides some of the standard perks for a top-level hire, including reimbursement for moving expenses involved in her relocation from Minnesota to Boston. But the agreement goes a step further than that with an unusual provision that seems to anticipate address […]
Posted inEducation
On Boston superintendent pick, mayor’s view looms large
THE THREE FINALISTS for the Boston school superintendent position each faced six-and-half hours of public questioning this week. Each candidate spent a long day going before panels made up of community leaders, teachers and principals, students, and the seven-member School Committee, which will make the pick in a vote expected to come next week. It […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Arts should be core to education, not an optional add-on
I’M EXCITED TO welcome more than 5,000 fellow arts educators from the National Art Education Association to Boston this weekend. At the same time, I’m worried about the state of the arts in our city. While Boston Public School officials tout the district’s “largest ever” budget, cuts to a number of city schools are in […]