FYI from BSF, 06.04.21
Facts and Fiction
A fairly significant annual report was released last week by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. It is the only data source for all cities and towns that reports enrollment in all education settings - traditional district schools, charter schools, private schools, collaboratives, etc.
The report lays bare two important facts.
1. Boston has fewer kids.
A lot fewer in fact - a 7% decrease in the past five years. This is not a new trend, as you can see above and as reported before. There is no doubt the pandemic accelerated this trend.
2. Enrollment decline is primarily concentrated in Boston Public Schools and Boston’s private schools.
Our past analysis has shown a significant percentage of this decline is due to the decrease in Black students.
Mark Twain once wrote, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” The data above is a bit inconvenient for three public narratives we have witnessed around education the past year.
Although it is true that home-schooling doubled in Boston, home-schooling still only represents only 0.16% of Boston’s children. Important for that small group of families, but certainly not a market shift.
The picture of families fleeing remote public schools to in-person private schools certainly seemed plausible back in September. Except, in Boston, that didn’t happen. More recent media and the state data make that clear.
The snapshot above is from Boston Public Schools annual budget. Even when one factors in Horace Mann schools, the district is projecting an enrollment increase for next year.
Why does this matter? A series of policy and technical implications come quickly to mind.
But more broadly, it calls to question the willingness of the field of education and its leaders to address things as they truly are - good, bad, or indifferent.
Facts are stubborn things.
And avoiding them can have real consequences for schools, classrooms, and children.
Reopening in Boston, MA, and Beyond
Our school re-centering initiative has received local and national attention. Forward to educators you know; they are tired, and plug-and-play tools and resources are what they need as more and more kids reenter buildings. Research continues to show how much remote learning has affected learning and growth curves.
The political fight over what school should look like in September started...in May. Questions around the full-return to school and protocols have been raised by one state-level teachers union. Unclear whether or not required vaccinations for students will be required in Boston.
MCAS will be administered for one more week, but we won’t know until the fall whether or not the public refusal of some teachers to administer the examaffected participation/completion.
School-based COVID-19 reported cases continue to plummet - student cases fell by another 50% from last week, and the staff case figure (13) is the lowest number reported. Between students and staff, there are almost 900,000 people in school buildings currently.
Other Matters
Time is running out for a task force to make recommendations for exam school admissions this fall. The group meets again this afternoon.
Fallout from the unlicensed counseling of BPS students continues; students have called for Superintendent Cassellius’ resignation, and Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins has raised concerns.
Several new bills at the State House look to address school segregation in Massachusetts.
The history of Asian discrimination and free speech in schools are discussed in this week’s NY Times digest.
The Tulsa Race Massacre (and lack of education provided on it for most of the last 100 years) has prompted discussion of other waves of racist violence you may not have not learned about in school.
A second student-led forum welcomes the six major candidates for mayor to address the topic of education. The forum is Monday afternoon, and you can sign up here.