FYI from BSF, 06.09.23
Until this week, the John D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science received rare mention in exam school debates. Formerly Boston Technical High School (or “Tech”), the O’Bryant was renamed and moved onto the Madison Park campus in 1991.
The proposals to diversify exam schools never really applied in the same way to the O’Bryant. It was +60% Black and Latino right after it moved over to Malcolm X Boulevard. It has remained that way, through the exam school policy changes of the 1990s and 2020/2021, and through the changing demographics of Boston.
Acknowledging research that questions the positive effects of exam schools, the O’Bryant has some of the strongest academic outcomes for subgroups of any high school in Massachusetts, ranking in the top 5 for every subgroup in Math and ELA.
There are more proficient low-income and high needs students at the O’Bryant than any other high school in Massachusetts.
The school averages a ~99% annual graduation rate.
And ~80% of students plan to enroll in a four-year university.
With the release of exam school invitation data at Boston School Committee on Wednesday, it is also clear that the O’Bryant could serve more students.
Only ~ 1 more out of 14 qualified applicants would have to select the O’Bryant for the school to eventually grow to 2,000 students as proposed.
Big questions remain. The City has proposed this happens at the former West Roxbury Educational Complex; concerns were raised at this week’s School Committee meeting. Access and transportation, cost, and the viability of Madison Park doubling in the O’Bryant’s vacated space are pretty big details to iron out. Because of the size of and demand for exam schools, changes for those three schools can have unforeseen, disproportionate effects on the rest of the system. The time we spend on the three exam schools is time not spent on the other ~122 schools in the system.
But the first big proposal of the Green New Deal for Boston Public Schools - including expanding the Margarita Muniz Academy dual language high school to grades 7-12 - centers on more access to schools with high academic outcomes and high family demand.
That is a good place to start from.
Notes in the margin
The full materials for Boston School Committee meeting on Wednesday can be found here.
Will the BPS (and city budget) pass by June 30th? Working through the City Council’s new amendment authority - with a schedule thrown off by redistricting work - is creating tight timeline.
Operational challenges in schools are not unique to big cities. Falling concrete closed a Somerville school building for the remainder of the school year. Layoffs in response to declining enrollment have created a tough budget season in Brockton.
Massachusetts’s small school districts and local funding mechanisms make it one of the worst states in the country for racial equality in education.
Federal stimulus dollars for schools and how they are spent (or not spent) got the New York Times treatment this week. There are well-intentioned disagreements about allocations (more now or later? operating or capital projects? academic interventions or socioemotional interventions), but one thing is clear: if your state or school district looks like this, FY25 is going to be a very challenging budget year.
New York City teachers had a “smog day” this week.
Charter schools are back in the news. An Oklahoma religious school received a charter, a decision likely rocketing to the Supreme Court. Stanford released its annual study showing again charters outperform their sending districts (the study, “CREDO,” has been debated in the past).
Lower birth rates in Massachusetts are part of the reason why community college enrollment has declined.
