There will be a debate in Boston over the next few years about whether and how to revise the school’s transportation plan. What will be your priorities when approaching this topic?
What do you believe are the primary causes of the achievement gap in the Boston Public School system, and what is your plan for closing this gap?
What specific actions would you take to improve the failing schools in Boston?
Mayoral Candidate Responses
Michael Flaherty
I did not support the 5-zone proposal. Yes, I have always supported the idea of children going to a school near their home, the idea that families could walk their kids to school and be involved with their school community. I believe our schools become stronger when they become a real part of the neighborhood. However, I also strongly advocate for equal educational opportunities and right now, a return to a neighborhood school system will not achieve such equality because there are too many underperforming schools in Boston. What we need to work towards is a school system where everyone’s neighborhood school is their number one choice school. But that won’t happen overnight and our success will certainly require bold leadership, collaboration among all parties and the incorporation of best practices working in other urban school districts across the country.
We can turn around our failing schools through bold reforms such as shifting to a school-based management system where principals are given greater authority to make decisions that best meet the needs of their particular student population. Under such a system, teachers and parents would also be more empowered and involved in discussions about budgeting and programming. At the same time, we need to welcome more charter schools so that we can replicate successes seen at schools like MATCH and bring in those charter schools that have demonstrated success elsewhere, such as the national KIPP schools. With the greater autonomies that we afford to both charter schools and our traditional public schools, we must also demand greater standards for accountability, making all schools responsible to provide a quality education and graduate all students – not just those without barriers to learning.
An April 2009 study released by the Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy Institute of UMass Boston affirmed that the fastest growing achievement gap in the Boston Public Schools (BPS) is between English Language Learners (ELL) and mainstream BPS students. Meanwhile, the Boston Foundation’s Boston Education Pipeline report card maintained that the greatest achievement gap in Boston is between mainstream students and students with linguistic or physical/cognitive challenges. Both reports underscore the point that our ELL and special education programs are in dire need of reform, especially since these student populations are also at greatest risk for dropping out.
To improve these programs, we need to improve communication between parents and BPS, and give them more options. We also need to improve assessments and better train both specialized and regular classroom teachers. Equally as important, we need to tie these programs to comprehensive support services.
Thomas Menino
We have to change the transportation plan in Boston and the School Department has proposed a plan for consideration. We need to work with parents to ensure that as we free up resources for the classrooms, we don’t leave any student without quality options for their education.
The Boston schools have students for a limited number of hours, and we have to ensure that they are productive ones. Early education experiences are critical to a young person’s success and we are expanding pre-school programming for the very young. We are also looking to improve nutrition so that students stay alert and active. And we are demanding higher teaching and learning standards to challenges our youth to succeed. We will provide remedial help in this effort, in spite of major cuts in state aid.
As noted earlier, I have proposed a system of “in-district” charter schools to revamp failing schools in Boston. We will work with the Patrick and Obama Administrations to secure approvals and funding for targeting the schools in the greatest need and finding the best educators to turn these schools around.
At-Large City Council Candidate Responses
Felix Arroyo
Busing is a controversial subject in Boston, but we have to address the issue at the root of the controversy, which is inequitable distribution of resources. My wife, my mother, and my sister are all teachers in the Boston Public schools. I am aware of the challenges that they and their students confront on a daily basis. My priorities will be to focus on providing a quality education for all students, and then engaging in a discussion about how to revamp the transportation system.
The achievement gap is the result of three things: lack of resources at certain schools, lack of valuing the child as a student at certain schools and lack of involvement on the part of some parents. We need to make sure all schools in the BPS have the resources to educate children properly. We need to believe that all of our children can be good students. Unfortunately, addressing parental involvement is more difficult. We need to insure that all parents have access to the schools their children attend and that we make it easier for our parents to be a part of their children’s education.
John Connolly
As a former teacher in urban schools, I know urban schools can work because I taught in an urban school that worked. Improving Boston’s schools and closing the achievement gap requires a commitment to building successful schools where principals, teachers, and parents build a school at the grassroots level that meets the needs and offers the education that is best for that individual schools’ students. This visions requires a commitment to programming and teacher training so that every school offers not only the best in math, science, and ELA, but also in arts, music, foreign languages, and humanities as well as robust afterschool options. We learn more every day that tells us that the achievement gap starts long before a child enters kindergarten. We can end the achievement gap with a steadfast commitment to extended learning time, afterschool programming, and the development of a culture of early learning and literacy.
In terms of reforming student transportation, we should simultaneously revise the transportation plan to create smaller zones and more community based schools while also being committed to a real plan to create quality schools across Boston by taking all savings from student transportation reform and dedicating that money to improvement plans and expanded programming options in our underperforming schools. To view my full thoughts on this issue and my whole education proposal, please visit the “Our Schools” section of www.connollyforboston.com.
Tomás Gonzalez
Ensuring bus routes are more efficient and make sure parents make an early determination as to whether or not their child will be using transportation on a regular and consistent basis. I would also make sure that children with special needs are transported to their schools without any disruption to their lives.
Literacy and varying learning styles are possible impediments to us closing the achievement gap. Yet nothing is more imperative then parent involvement. There is a serious lack of parent involvement not only in the schools, but also in the socio-emotional development of their children. Parents need to take an active part in nurturing the uniqueness of their children and placing them in a school environment that nurture their unique learning styles. They need to read to their children and expose them to good learning habits as early as possible.
I would assign the school a pilot school status, hire new administrators that will work with the teachers and parents to strengthen the overall school community and raise the student expectations to one of excellence. I would also engage in an extensive and aggressive outreach strategy to the families of struggling students in the hopes of providing assistance and support for the betterment of the family and child.
Tito Jackson
Public education isn’t just about investment in schools, it’s about investment in neighborhoods. My proposal to resolving the bussing issue is to first make every Boston neighborhood a great place to live and learn.
Jamaica Plain youth face significant challenges when it comes to education. While nearly 90% of neighborhood youth are enrolled in Boston Public Schools, 30% come from homes headed by a single parent and 35% live in homes where English is spoken as a second language.
I believe mentoring can play a powerful role in improving the educational performance of young people in Jamaica Plain and across the City of Boston.
As City Councillor At-Large, I would advocate for providing every Boston school student with a mentor. One-third of Boston residents are between the ages of 18 and 34, a major source of potential mentors. Program volunteers to serve as mentors would be recruited from across the city. I serve on the advisory board for One in Three Boston, a group dedicated to volunteerism and civic engagement among these young adults. As a volunteer program, a BPS mentoring initiative could be implemented in partnership with groups such as One in Three, without requiring any significant City of Boston resources.
Despite the daily efforts of many dedicated teachers, the Boston Public Schools face major challenges in educating our youth. To improve the performance of our schools, I would propose 1) Public forums inviting parents of Boston school children to contribute their ideas and suggestions for alleviating teacher workload; 2) A review of the teacher’s aide program for greater participation by parents; 3)Launching a civic education campaign promoting the public schools as “Your Schools” for voters and residents. In fact, about half of Boston’s residents have grown up in this city.
Andrew Kenneally
My top priority with respect to school transportation is increased access to neighborhood schools. Students are able to have more of a stake in their school when travel to and from school is not overly burdensome. As well, any outcomes of the debate should seek to increase parents’ ability to be involved in their children’s school. I see parental involvement as an essential component of advancing educational opportunity in Boston.
On some levels, the problem is a pedagogical one-teachers, at present, do not have the right tools to address the divergent needs of students that come from diverse ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Teachers must be trained in multicultural approaches to teaching, and regular diversity sensitivity workshops for teachers are essential. Primarily, though, the achievement gap in the BPS reflects an inequity of resources. More affluent neighborhoods are serviced by more well-endowed schools that have the facilities and tools necessary to facilitate a high level of education. We must focus on closing the resource gap if we hope to begin to address the achievement gap.
First and foremost, we need to create neighborhood schools where local students have access to local schools. As I mentioned in a prior response, the savings from the elimination of school transportation costs must be reinvested in our city’s most struggling schools. Additionally, I would establish a New Teacher Grant program that would provide incentives to individuals just entering the teaching profession to take positions in the city’s most struggling schools.
Steve Murphy
It goes without saying that we need a more efficient transportation plan for Boston, and I have been actively involved with this issue for years. We can’t sustain forty-three passenger vehicles carrying only fifteen students across the city with the current zone plan. It makes no sense. The Council, under my leadership increased the load factor per bus. I believe if we decreased the buses from 700 to 500 or less we could see a cost savings of $20-25 million. That money could be better spent on education needs.
I’m not an educator by vocation but my understanding is that some of it may be attributed to limited English language skills. To overcome this I believe we need more early learning centers as well as increased remedial and tutorial offerings at the earliest evidence that students need added services.
The Boston City Council doesn’t have the authority to change the School Department. That’s what the School Committee is charged with. That said, what I can do as a city councilor is work with Superintendent Johnson to bring added resources where available. I can also monitor the department and engage in dialogue to change personnel where needed. As you know, the City Council can oversee the budget and make cuts, though not line items. This is a better question for the Superintendent and/or School Committee members.
Ayanna Pressley
We need to be balancing the benefits of neighborhood schools through lower cost transportation costs that can and must be re-invested in failing schools as well as improved parental involvement because of proximity – with the costs – inability to provide choice and equal quality of education as well as economic and racial diversity.
There is an achievement gap because disparities do exist in our school system and must be addressed. Disparities in our school system mirror disparities we find in society at large. It is critical that we address those societal disparities in order to successfully close the achievement gap.
Several steps we should take include:
- More investment in on-going teacher development and training
- Increased access to after-school programs, including tutoring, SAT prep and college placement assistance
- Increased parental involvement – school’s must be a welcoming place for parents something that could be achieved through ideas like evening hours, translation services, teacher training in working with troubled families and family learning.
Certainly, as referenced above, there is an achievement gap in our schools and that must be addressed with immediate solutions, including those I mentioned earlier. The city must address the roots of the problems, in the neighborhoods and communities most impacted, with programs and policies tailored to those communities. How we educate our young people- and how we ensure they receive an outstanding education- should not be a “one size fits all” proposition; if there are communities facing a unique set of problems, it is essential we respond to their problems.
