Blue Mass Group

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Marty Walsh has some ‘Splaining to do

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Per Diane Ravitch’s blog

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh gave no indication in 2013 when he ran for office that he was a supporter of school privatization; his opponent John Connolly clearly was. Walsh accused Connolly–a charter school supporter of wanting to “blow up” the school system. Yet now Walsh is working closely with the Gates Foundation and the far-right, union-busting Walton Family Foundation to close 36 public schools and replace them with privately managed charter schools

Charlie Pierce isn’t happy either, comparing this move to one Scott Walker would make:

The ever-essential Diane Ravitch catches Walsh in the middle of performing what we like to refer to around the shebeen as a “full Scott Walker”—namely, pulling a fast one once you’re elected that you never made a part of your campaign. It’s not breaking a campaign promise. It’s breaking a campaign presumption, which is supposed to make a difference. Anyway, Walsh beat John Connolly at least partly by accusing Connolly, who is an open ally of the education “reform” grifters, of trying to destroy the public school system in the city where public schools were invented in this county. Now, it appears that Mayor Walsh has broken up with Candidate Walsh.

These are two bloggers who I regularly check, and usually they are on the money with their scoops or analysis. Especially Ravitch, who is an expert on public education and exposing the charter myths. Her work on that subject and my conversation with regular teachers in Cambridge and Chicago, along with my own brief experience tutoring in an inner city school in Chicago, pushed me from a charter advocate (one of several bad positions I once espoused on BMG) to a skeptic.

And if what she is accusing Walsh of doing turns out to be true, and I am open to the idea that people are jumping to conclusions, that will turn me from a supporter to a skeptic. Real dumb move if he sold out his core supporters on the issue he had the most differences with Connolly over.

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Comments

  1. Kind of a strong counter from the mayah’s office:

    Below is a statement from Laura Oggeri, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Boston:

    “The Mayor has never said, nor does he have a plan to close 36 schools. Mayor Walsh has proven his dedication to Boston Public Schools by, in the past year alone, providing unprecedented budgetary support, extending learning time for students, adding 200 pre-kindergarten seats to the district, and hiring a first-class Superintendent. The Mayor also launched a multi-year Educational and Facilities Master Plan this fall to guide smart investments in Boston’s schools with the goal of providing all students with a high-quality, 21st-century education.

    The Esquire article is untrue and unsourced, and references meetings that the Mayor has never had. We are extremely disappointed at the spread of misinformation.”

    Much of this is boilerplate crap, but they go in big on the line “meetings that the Mayor has never had”.

    • The Mayor “has never said, nor does he have a plan to close 36 schools.” The Mayor has said that he plans to “consolidate” schools. How can he consolidate schools if he does not close some? Oh, wait—if he leases some of the “consolidated” school buildings to charter schools then the buildings will technically remain open. They just won’t be Boston Public Schools. Despite the expressed concerns of the Mayor’s office, the Blog post was sourced and linked to twelve relevant documents obtained in response to what Boston public school blogger Mary Lewis Pierce [no relation] described as a FOIA [Massachusetts Public Records Act] request. Among those records was an agenda for a meeting between the Boston Compact and Mayor Walsh and a Boston Compact talking points memo prepared for the Mayor in which the Mayor is scripted to announce and define Enroll Boston.

      Despite the claims of the Mayor’s office, the Blog post was neither untrue nor unsourced. However the Blog is newly concerned by the reading comprehension levels of those entrusted with the education of Boston’s public school students.

    • Here’s the original blog post. Worth noting that this story was broken by a BPS parent. Glad Ravitch & Pierce picked it up, but it started with a parent.

      Artfully worded denial for Oggeri, which I guess we should expect from the Chief Communications Officer. The co-chairs of the Boston Compact met with the Gates Foundation. It’s true that Walsh is not one of those co-chairs (I can’t find who is), but his chief of education Rahn Dorsey is on the steering committee.

      Having praised Oggeri’s wordsmithing, I now have to dock her points for not knowing what “unsourced” means.

  2. which they wanted to discuss, or something that Walsh is on board with. Don’t know if there is enough in the FOIA documents to show that.

    But what they have done, which I like, is putting Walsh on notice. If there was any thought to caving, he can’t hide it.

  3. my perspective on Boston politics is remote. But can someone tell me how Marty Walsh is a good mayor?

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