FYI from BSF, 07.09.21
Summer School
Summer academic and enrichment programs opened across Boston this past week. With about 40% of Boston students engaged in summer programming, COVID-19 and the hottest June on record are bringing long-needed attention to Boston school buildings. There is a waitlist for summer programs, despite the fact that there appears to be about 5,000 less students in programs than projected by BPS (slide 4).
Summer is also traditionally a time of political fights and schools.
Lines are already being drawn about masks, with Rhode Island and doctorscalling for them not to be required in schools this fall. A long, objective overview of school safety appeared in Nature.
Rhode Island also joined Massachusetts in not permitting wide scale remote learning. Although the sample is limited, it is worth noting that Massachusetts had one of the largest racial gaps in the country for in-person/remote learning.
Why? It is probably connected to the fact that Massachusetts is also one of the most residentially segregated states in the country, and reopening was handled by cities and towns. It is increasingly clear the toll is particularly high for Black boys. Is an extra year of school part of the solution?
The culture war around how to race in America is discussed and taught in schools continues to swirl. The American Federation of Teachers has taken a stance, as well as Massachusetts school administrators, and book watch is in full effect. And, if anyone has doubts about the political motivations at play, QAnon is now running school board races.
Superintendencies tend to roll over in the summer, and race matters here, too.
And, finally, we are several days away from Boston School Committee’s vote on a new exam school admission policy. Legal challenges continued this week, and you can also read about how the proposed system could play out based on reforms in Chicago.
The last public session on exam school admissions was held on Wednesday, featuring a simulation of the new policies and allowing members of the public to listen and give comments.
A central question and tension of the exam school admissions debate are that enrollment of white students in exam schools far exceeds the proportion of white students in BPS or the city; curious, then, that the majority of public comments appear to have been given by white parents (both supporting and opposing the elements of the policy).
Education 2021
Education reappeared in the mayor’s race this week - with one candidate criticizing the city’s deployment of federal relief funds for schools.
The final commission meeting on federal funds met last night; the commission did not vote on or approve any recommendations for the second wave of federal dollars ($123M) and it is unclear if the commission will weigh in on the third wave of federal dollars (approximately $270M). Allocations for schools were released (screenshots here, here, and here); based on size and demographics, the allotments range from $51,249 (the Carter School, which serves some of the district's highest-needs students) to $1.3M (Madison Park).
With the majority of voters and candidates supporting changes to the Boston School Committee, here is a primer on the rocky governance transition in Chicago.
Other Matters
Two notes on the tail end of PK-12. Black and Latinx enrollment dropped in Massachusetts community colleges, and there is legislation moving to dramatically invest in vocational education and career pathways.