Massachusetts May Take Control of Boston’s Public Schools

If the city can’t improve 34 underperforming schools, the state superintendent has said he will step in.

By Roger Lowenstein. Excerpts: 

"The $1.3 billion Boston Public Schools budget keeps expanding even as the student population shrinks."

"third of Boston’s students attend schools that are among the lowest-performing 10% in Massachusetts. Data from the nonprofit Boston Schools Fund show that barely 70% of BPS students (excluding those at exam-based schools) graduate from high school. Nobody knows the precise graduation rate because, as the Boston Globe has reported, BPS has misreported data for years.

Only 25% of black elementary schoolers test at grade level in English. According to a previous state review, before the pandemic, absenteeism was “staggering.” The schools are failing English learners and special-education students. The transportation system is a disgrace."

"BPS fails to provide adequate curriculum guidance; it fails to ensure that schools, which operate with autonomy, are held accountable; principal turnover is significant. Improvement projects sputter. The central office is inept. Six high school teams were booted from the state basketball tournament because BPS neglected to submit a form."

"Blame, in part, a political culture that discourages accountability. A decade ago many local Democrats were reformers, but those of recent vintage have been unwilling to buck the Boston Teachers Union, which defends the status quo. BPS is dragged down further by institutional morass."

"No one has had the courage to shutter redundant facilities."

"Boston has 7,000 fewer students today than it did five years ago, but it has managed to add 220 teachers and 150 administrators."

"At $27,000, Boston’s annual per pupil spending is second only to New York City’s."

"Boston charter schools are among the best in the nation. According to the Boston Schools Fund, charters in the city graduate 90% of their students. But legislation limits spending on charters within each district. A referendum that would have led to more charters was defeated by a union-backed campaign."