FYI from BSF, 1.26.24
A bunch of new state data dropped last week, including on Massachusetts public school teachers.
A review of the last decade produces three headlines.
1. There are a lot more teachers.
This is particularly true in Boston. With now nearly 8,700 reported teachers in Boston Public Schools (BPS), classroom staffing has increased by greater than 20%.
*No 2016 data because it is not reported on DESE.
Although not to the same degree, the number of teachers also increased dramatically across the Commonwealth (up 13.99%).
This is resonant of larger national trends, as most cities and states have increased school staffing. This comes with obvious benefits: smaller class sizes, easing workloads, allowing for specialization, etc.
This also comes with costs. As school staff - and their salaries and benefits - increased, student enrollment was decreasing. Boston’s enrollment is ~16% below 2014 levels; Massachusetts, ~4%.
These opposing trends (staff up, students down) makes school districts and states particularly vulnerable for a potential funding cliff when all the federal stimulus dollars must be spent or encumbered in eight months.
2. Teachers continue to be disproportionately female.
The increase in teachers did very little budge the ratio of male to female teachers. Ratios in Boston (1:3) and Massachusetts (1:4) remained nearly identical across the decade.
3. The teacher workforce has become increasingly racially diverse.
In 2014, the majority of Boston teachers identified as white. Today, that is no longer the case.
That is a stark contrast to the Massachusetts teacher workforce, which is overwhelmingly white.
*Native American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Multi-Racial teachers compromise <0.5% of teachers, making the sample size too small to display in this analysis.
Boston and Massachusetts have made progress in this area. For example, the number of Hispanic teachers in Massachusetts has doubled in the last decade.
These results should not be too surprising. It has become increasingly settled research that diverse faculties contribute to higher student outcomes, particularly for students of color. Initiatives from BPS and the Commonwealth have prioritized the recruitment of Black and Hispanic teachers, and several non-profits have emerged to aid in the recruitment and retention of teachers of color.
As now the city of Newton is painfully aware, there is no school without teachers.
With teacher attrition returning more or less to pre-pandemic levels in Boston and Massachusetts, continued student needs, and potential fiscal constraints, understanding and projecting staffing needs for schools has never been more important.
notes in the margin
Boston School Committee met on Wednesday. Full materials here, including an update on the school quality framework, a lengthy midyear update, UP Academy is closing a campus, and a $6M federal grant to recruit more bilingual teachers.
The Commonwealth’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education also met this week. Full materials here. The Board rejected a change to the accountability system to give more weight to chronic absenteeism.
The other big Massachusetts news was Governor Healey’s FY25 budget. As previewed at the State of the Commonwealth, there is a lot of money and support for education, including early education and literacy, $263M more for PK-12 funding, and early college.
A Boston charter school created what research has identified as one of the single most effective interventions in education. Then why aren’t we seeing more of “high-dosage” tutoring?
Unswayed by different research, Lowell High students want to keep their cell phones at school.
Primer and upcoming webinar on evidence-based literacy. Some Massachusetts suburban families aren’t waiting for it.
No new building for Whittier Tech - voters from the sending districts voted down the $440M+ project by a margin of 3:1.
College enrollment is increasing again across America. Enrollment has also increased in Massachusetts community colleges, leading to a staffing crunch.
Stay in school longer, live longer.
Other Matters
Applying to college this year (or know someone who is)? There are three upcoming dates for free, in-person help with FAFSA applications.