FYI from BSF, 07.02.21
New Year
With the fiscal year 2021 closing, the last day of June (not December) is new year’s eve for city governments and non-profits across the state. June 30th in Boston was particularly busy. The timing of a final city budget vote, a School Committee meeting, and exam school recommendations created a frenetic 72 hours.
When the dust had all settled, what happened?
The city and BPS budget were passed.
Despite objections, the School Committee voted to extend the Superintendent’s contract.
The exam school task force proposed a new policy that would include grades, testing, and tiering students by census tracts to determine who will be admitted. A last-minute change, however, to preserve guaranteed places for the top 20% of all applicants (without regard for socioeconomic status), drew quick fire. The proposal was presented at School Committee, and a final version will be up for a vote on July 14th.
Why the outcry for this highly technical component? Process questions were raised, as it was rumored that city council members lobbied the task force in exchange for passing the BPS budget. Access and equity questions were raised, as it was asserted that reserving 20% of the seats would give continued advantage to privileged students and families who can afford tutors, test prep, etc.
But if the real question is access and equity, this top 20% debate isn’t really about exam schools - it is about one of them, Boston Latin School.
It is hard to look at the data and say the O’Bryant School and Math and Science does not already reflect equitable access. The majority of its students are Black or Latino, high needs, or economically disadvantaged, all closely mirroring the demographics of BPS.
Boston Latin Academy does not as closely mirror the district, but if diversity was a goal of this endeavor, BLA would be considered one of the most diverse schools in all of Massachusetts (which has a significant school segregation problem).
That leaves Boston Latin School, which is disproportionately ranked as families’ first choice and does not reflect the demography of BPS (or of the city’s school-aged children).
None of the three exam schools enroll a high percentage of English language learners or students with special needs. These subgroups of students received virtually no attention from the task force and are not reflected in the tiering system (households that speak a language other than English, which is considered, should not be conflated with English language learner status).
Very rarely in education do our policy decisions become so pitched, so zero-sum, over such a small number of kids. If the final crux of the debate is truly about the top 20% and who has the straightest line to Boston Latin School, then we are potentially talking about 190 or so kids. 190.
The exam school task force met 24 times. The meetings were observed by thousands of people. One of its recommendations nearly ground city government to a halt. We expect more public debate and media attention over the next two weeks before what seems to be an inevitable final vote.
The commission to spend $400 million dollars on the other 50,000 or so BPS children has met 5 times; the application is not complete and it is due in 28 days. Boston is far behind other cities in scope and ambition for summer learning. The BPS budget calls for hiring more social workers, but there is a shortage. And, buried in a School Committee presentation on Wednesday, there is very concerning data:
Attendance is down.
Failures are up.
Immediate college enrollment is down.
This begs a serious question - why does this not inspire the same concern from our leaders and advocates? Why do three schools, and one in particular, continue to dominate leaders’ and advocates’ attention?
We can not achieve a vision of equitable access and opportunity to high-quality schools in Boston if we continue to limit our time and attention to the controversy, clicks, and where 190 7th graders may go to school in the fall of 2022.
Where is the task force, political muscle, and media attention for the other 50,000 children in BPS?
Education 2021
Education quickly emerged a core issue in the mayor’s race this past week.
With candidates, there was the last-second drama of passing the city and the BPS budget (two City Councilors and mayoral candidates, Andrea Campbell and Michelle Wu voted against the city budget, with Campbell also voting down the BPS budget). Candidates were also forced to weigh in on the future of BPS given the Superintendent’s contract extension - half of the candidates did not support an extension (Andrea Campbell, Jon Santiago, and Michelle Wu), while the other half did (John Barros, Annissa Essaibi-George, and Kim Janey).
But, perhaps, more importantly, voters are talking. Education has risen to be a top three issue in the mayoral campaign. Education is the #1 issue in several neighborhoods, and there is additional data on exam schools (voters support a continued test) and school committee (almost no voters support a solely appointed School Committee).
Other Matters
Massachusetts ranks as the best state in the country for children’s well-being.
Questions around critical race theory are now bubbling up in Massachusetts (Medway and Charlton-Dudley). Progressive initiatives have a history of being challenged in the summer - watch this space.
FAFSA data continues to portend lower college enrollment next year.
Final federal data confirms what we all already knew - student enrollment dropped considerably across the country this year, particularly in PreK and kindergarten.
