FYI from BSF, 1.12.24
Each January, we watch a trilogy of “state” speeches: city, Commonwealth, and country. Our leaders have a singular opportunity to shine a light on their priorities.
So it does not go unnoticed what a prominent place education and young people played in Tuesday night’s State of the City speech by Mayor Wu. Not including the opening anecdote celebrating the victorious Dorchester Eagles, ~1200 words - more than 35% - were committed to Boston Public Schools and its students.
As the Mayor said, “Boston is the birthplace of public education—founded on the belief that knowledge belongs to everyone. But we have yet to deliver on that vision.” Many initiatives followed.
How close are we to delivering on that vision?
Today, ten major BPS capital projects are underway—as many as were built in the last 40 years, combined...
With our partners at Boston Unity Soccer Group, we’re excited to renovate the historic White Stadium at Franklin Park into the first sports venue in the country that will co-house a pro sports team and a public school athletics program.
There are seventeen projects currently listed on the Green New Deal for Boston Public Schools website. Some are done (Boston Arts Academy). Some are almost done (Carter, Quincy). Some of them likely have some state money coming in (Shaw-Taylor). One isn’t a school (White Stadium). Some have no money attached to them at all (Otis Annex). The majority are not new-builds.
But the most important detail to note is that 10 of the 17 projects are pre-design or in the design process. That means there are no total project costs attached, nor dollars committed in the five-year capital budget. There is controversy on the North Shore because one new regional school building came back with a half a billion dollar price tag.
The current GND for BPS budget is $2B.
And, thanks to a $20 million grant from the EPA—we will be adding 50 electric school buses to more than double our fleet.
This is the second tranche of electric school buses; the first 20 came online about one year ago. When purchased and operational, a little more than 10% of the BPS bus fleet will be green.
This school year, we expanded Universal Pre-K to 390 more families, and funded certifications for 430 new early educators. And, this spring, we will launch a one-stop-shop to make it easier for families to find and enroll in childcare.
Enrollment in Pre-K in Boston Public Schools has increased, but it is still below its pre-pandemic height.
Overall, city Pre-K enrollment is likely well above past figures. As of 2022-2023, the UPK program had created +1,000 additional seats in community centers and independent schools (Pre-K enrollment in Horace Manns and charters is basically flat).
Access to early education is increasing, but the overall student body is not. Kindergarten cohorts are in significant decline, making a major reversal in enrollment trends very unlikely.
Districtwide, we have a unified academic focus on equitable literacy, grounded in the science of reading, and applied across every subject. We’ve added reading specialists and literacy coaches, and trained educators on new materials reflecting our students’ cultures and languages…
This sustained effort began in 2021 and continues to progress each year (we are partners).
Federal stimulus funding supported much of this work, and starting last year BPS has moved these types of costs into the general fund to sustain them when the federal dollars dry up this fall (slide 19). Something to look for in the FY25 budget.
And the results speak for themselves: Bucking trends nationwide—here in Boston, chronic absenteeism is on the decline, and the students benefiting from our new curriculum are meeting milestones that set them up for success.
Chronic absenteeism has declined in BPS. But at a lower rate than most Massachusetts districts, and the gap between Boston and MA has actually widened.
Boston still has the fifth highest rate of chronic absenteeism of any school district in Massachusetts.
In our high schools, we’re delivering on our mission to bring early college and career-connected learning to every student: Bunker Hill Community College is expanding early college pathways at Charlestown High School to the entire student body. Roxbury Community College will launch the first early-college incubator for multilingual students at English High, the Margarita Muñiz, and BINCA. And Mass General Brigham will partner with the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers on transformational career-connected learning. Tonight, I’m also excited to announce that UMass Boston has signed an agreement with BPS to make the BCLA-McCormack High School our district’s first University-Assisted Community Hub School.
The promise of career pathways and community schools is well-documented.
The UMASS BCLA-McCormack announcement is significant. After a closure became a merger in 2018-2019, School Committee members recently commented on the lack of progress at BCLA-McCormack and its facility. With the massive Dorchester Bay City project officially approved and the construction of the Dorchester Field House, there is going to be a lot more cranes, a lot more kids, and, hopefully, a lot of learning on Harbor Point for the next decade.
Starting in February, on the first and second Sundays of each month, BPS students and their families will get free admission at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Science, the Boston Children’s Museum, the New England Aquarium, and the Franklin Park Zoo.
As described, there are ~19,990 Boston children who could not access this benefit. The overwhelming majority of these children - who attend METCO, charters, or parochial schools - are Black, Latino, and low-income.
The preliminary BPS budget will be presented on February 7th, with capital projects to follow in the spring.
Therein lie the details for what progress can be shared in early January, 2025.
notes in the margin
Boston School Committee met on Wednesday. There was discussion of the master facilities plan and BCLA-McCormack announcement from the State of the City, but official business focused on a tweak to the exam school admission formula. Materials here.
Not discussed, but public hours later: the last standalone middle school in the system, the Lila E Frederick, is closing.
Most of Boston’s charter schools’ MCAS performance declined with the pandemic, and did not rebound.
Achievement gaps are usually cast as differences between districts, not within them.
Is curriculum and instruction driving this? Or, as one district administrator said, is it “disparities in students’ home lives?”
What happens - or doesn’t - when a child is diagnosed with dyslexia?
Midyear budget cuts by the Governor won’t directly touch local aid or school funding, but some programs (e.g., dual enrollment) will be scaled back. Nevertheless, free community college may be back on the agenda.
Education Secretary Tutwiler is doing public service announcements about school attendance as chronic absenteeism got the long form New Yorker treatment.
A good roll-up of the slow, local burn around Massachusetts high school mascots with Native American representations.
Worcester and New Bedford also got some new electric buses.
Boston is not alone in facing the quandary of student enrollment decline and school closures.
Some initial research findings from the expansion of tutoring in response to the pandemic. Not researched? Using AI as a tutor.
What if making the SAT optional in the name of equity is actually creating inequity? Provocative data and analysis from the NY Times.
It has been impossible to escape inflation since 2020. Case in point, it is creating inaccurate FAFSAs, as the federal government attempted to simplify applying for financial aid for college.
Sobral, Brazil has a lot to teach districts around the world about literacy at scale.
Other Matters
Lots of education leaders and data available at the Rennie Center’s annual Conditions of Education report.
St. Margaret’s and Boston Latin School graduate Ayo Edebiri stole the show at this year’s Golden Globes. Hear from some of her teachers.