Note: These are excerpts from each section. These paragraphs are not continuous in the original.
As a parent with three children currently enrolled in Boston public schools, Michael shares residents’ concerns about our school assignment process and the city’s ability to provide equal educational opportunities to all of Boston’s children. There is no easy solution.
In exchange for greater autonomies, school principals should be required to meet higher standards and deliver better results, especially our underperforming schools which comprise 38% of our 143 schools. Similar to the review system required for the state’s charter schools, our public schools – with their increased powers and authorities – should undergo a thorough and frequent review process where problems could be identified and addressed early.
Putting Students Back on Track
Early and thorough monitoring of student performance. Research indicates that the signs for dropping out begin at the earliest of grade levels and include attendance and behavior, as well as academic performance. As a strong proponent of tracking data and data sharing, Michael has repeatedly stated the need for comprehensive tracking and monitoring of students, and that this data be shared with teachers so that they can anticipate and design their class instruction in a way that best meets the overall needs of his or her students.
Restoring peace to our schools. In the fall of 2007, the Harvard School of Public Health released a study that revealed 60% of its surveyed high school students reported being a witness to a violent crime and one third reported being directly involved in a fight. The 2006 PIC study reported that many youth cited a fear of violence as an obstacle to academic achievement and a reason for dropping out. Subscribing to the belief that a productive learning environment requires a safe learning environment, Michael has been a long-term proponent of returning street workers to the schools where they can diffuse student conflict before it escalates into street violence. He has held two City Council hearings on the issue and will put his calls into practice if he becomes Mayor.
Strengthen Boston’s Public Education Pipeline
Improving transition from high school to college. A 2008 report released by the Boston Private Industry Council and BPS revealed disappointing findings, further indicating a troubled school district. According to the report, two-thirds of BPS graduates from the Class of 2000 who enrolled in college failed to earn a degree. At the time of the report’s release, Michael called upon city leaders to consider bringing an Early College High School (ECHS) to Boston. As Mayor, Michael will work with the city’s education partners and concerned parents to explore the feasibility a Boston-based ECHS.
Expanding School Choice
Many critics of charter schools have charged that the success in charter schools has more to do with demographics than curriculum design and implementation. However, a breakthrough January 2009 study by The Boston Foundation debunked the myth that high student performance at charter schools is a result of student “pedigree” and not innovative teaching practices. The study controlled for the intangible factors of parent involvement and student motivation by tracking the MCAS scores over time of two groups of charter school applicants who either enrolled at a charter or attended BPS. The results revealed that the charter school students outperformed the BPS students, particularly in middle school math. Advocates for charter schools believe this study highlights that the curriculums and policies of charter schools – not student demographics – are the reason for high student performance at charters.
Preparing Students for the Green Economy
That’s why Michael believes that the city should formalize these opportunities by establishing a green vocational school within the city’s public school system where they can learn about the importance of sustainable innovation and receive the appropriate guidance and encouragement to pursue productive career paths such as those in the green economy.
I am hoping to get around to writing up something on education in the mayoral race from a policy point of view, but I think the political reality is clear:
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p>This is pretty much the only issue where the mayor appears vulnerable.
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p>According to the hilariously inaccurate measure of MCAS scores, Boston is not doing what it needs to do (neither is any other urban area in the Commonwealth, but these candidate hope nobody realizes that). With the exception of crime, this is really the only issue where Menino may be vulnerable to most voters. It’s also a chance for would-be mayors to appear “visionary” as a contrast to Menino’s managerial style.
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p>I don’t know how much follow-through we’re gonna see on this should any of these guys get elected, but I rather suspect that “having a big plan on education” was more of a priority for these campaigns than actually having a smart plan on education.
I’m particularly skeptical of McCrea’s “first 100 days.”
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p>Flaherty clearly decided to drown people in detail, but that might be a good thing.
I applaud the three candidates for trying to tackle the issue of schools in a comprehensive way. I do not think there is any one answer, and it will take a combination of solutions and focus on the issue for us to see any kind of substantive changes on education in Boston anytime soon. However, I am disappointed that Menino’s stand gives more platitudes than positions and he appears to be doing a lot of political side stepping on this issue. The Boston public schools are clearly in trouble. This article in the Globe was published less than a year ago, yet Menino’s position states that they are doing just fine.
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p>Full Article Here
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p>Then, last week Menino says he is unhappy with the status quo and something has to change. Looks like flip flops are not just for summer. They work equally well when discussing education.
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p>Full Article Here
…but it is what the state requires. I hope that Boston and any other city would grab the bull by the horns and compete under the rules rather than waste too much time complaining about the rules.
Imagine that doctors and hospitals were expected to lose no more than 1% of their patients per year.
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p>Then it turns out that Boston City Hospital is losing 5% of their patients per year because, well, patients with poor health and few resources go there and end up dying.
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p>Then somebody runs against the mayor, saying that the mayor is doing a poor job running the hospital. That’s the system we’re dealing with.
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p>If you compete under the rules, you lose. Those are the rules. That’s why so many “successful” competitors are widely acknowledged as cheaters.
Should competition only be limited to athletes and businesses? I think a little competition, or a drive to make things better, is healthy. An election is a natural reflection of this process in our government. Elections or competitions, as they actually are, provide an opportunity for new ideas and solutions to be brought to the
table and debate to be created.
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p>An idea or a person, does not have to be inherently bad, yet might still need a lot of improvement. I get the feeling that is the point of the Flaherty good. better. campaign. That products, government, and people can be good, but with innovation, ideas, new technology and change they can
be better. This approach does not change the initial goodness of the original product.
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p>But I might be giving them more credit then they deserve for the actual premise of the good. better campaign.
Cheating districts do the following:
they ship off lowscoring students into faux “districts” created to segregate their scores;they actively encourage lowscoring high school students to drop out-they look at the test before administration and instruct teachers on what concepts to review
-they correct “understandable errors” students make after the fact
-they have contacts with the bureaucrats in the company that writes the test and get sneak peeks at the subject matter of the year’s tests
-they pay thousands to that same private company for “consulting” that just happens to emphasize the topics on upcoming MCAS exams.
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p>Ask any teacher (particularly in a regional district), and they know by name of districts doing at least some of this.
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p>I’m all for fair competition, but that is not the MCAS. To take yet another example, imagine a footrace where lanes are randomly drawn, but the outside lanes have an extra 15% distance to run. The referee is blind in one eye, and there’s crap littered on the racetrack. That’s the MCAS.
First of all I have been the only candidate (to my knowledge) to say that the first thing we need to do about education is not cut funding for it.
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p>Back in December and January Menino was threatening to layoff 900 teachers because of the budget crunch. This was dishonest as Boston has the money to not lay off so many people. The reason he threatened this was to get his meals tax passed. I wrote on my blog that we will not be laying off any teachers or any police officers as the Mayor threatened. If the other candidates and the Mayor were honest about the budget they could have assured those teachers, parents and students that these traumatic cuts were not going to happen. I attended many of the school board meetings and city hearings, presented the budget information and alternative areas where money was available but they were not interested. Here we are 6 months later, the economy is worse and yet…VOILA!… we aren’t cutting all these teachers, programs, etc.
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p>The first thing we have to demand out of our candidates is honesty. The next is transparency about how our money is being spent. I do not believe my opponents believe in this.
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p>From my website, some more thoughts on education. I am working on a comprehensive plan of my actions I look forward to BMG’s critique when I do put it out.
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p>SCHOOLS
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p>There is no more important public service than education. Engraved atop the Boston Public Library is the reason: THE COMMONWEALTH REQUIRES THE EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE AS THE SAFEGUARD OF ORDER AND LIBERTY.
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p>Our schools have to be not only adequate; they have to be excellent, because this is where citizenship begins. Schools do not just crank out score-getters and job-holders. They help children develop into confident youths and capable adults. They prepare our future generations of family and community members, entrepreneurs and employees, artists, scientists, craftsmen, visionaries – and public servants. They shape the civic body and civil society of the nation.
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p>It’s well documented that the most successful business leaders – and all leaders – are those with the broadest education. The future of work is in an unpredictable and evolving state, and those will thrive who are most adaptable and flexible, who have mastered the basic skills, who have the broadest knowledge base.
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p>I believe in public schools; that’s where most of our children will be – and should be — educated. But right now, we drive people away from our public schools, with our complicated choices and tedious, expensive busing and our lack of facilities and our poor results. People who can seek pilots, or charters, or parochial schools, or METCO, to give their child a better chance at success. This is a sign of our current failure. I want to give EVERY child a better chance at success.
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p>We need to nurture the best in each youngster and each young adult, and that requires supporting whole families and neighborhoods – the village that it takes to raise a child. We know that. And yet we don’t do it. Why? Well, no one at City Hall is going to tell you. They have been complicit. Mayor Mayor Menino has been in office for 16 years – a whole school generation; he asked to be judged on his improvement of the schools, and the ultimate measure – the status of the young adults of that generation – issues a scathing indictment of the Mayor. Their schools have offered them no more tools for self-development, either personally or vocationally. Yes, there are a handful of “good schools,” and there are the excellent exam schools. There are a few pilots and charters, of varying quality. But these represent a small fraction of the school population. The question is: what’s happening to the whole village?
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p>In my administration, Boston, the home of the best private colleges, will have the best public schools. No excuses.
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p>I will review our school budget in detail, and find out why we spend $20,000 per child with such poor results. I know a few reasons already: We put far too much into non-educational administrative personnel. We waste huge amounts of money in no-bid contracts. And we bus students around the city, from one poor school to another, instead of assuring a system of good neighborhood schools.
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p>I’m going to change all that.
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p>I’ll meet when I’m elected, and then periodically, with staff, parents and students at every one of our hundred plus schools, and listen to what they say they need to succeed.
I’ll put our money into direct education: teachers, classrooms, supplies, programs. No more teachers and parents paying for students’ supplies.
I’ll provide the nutrition and family support services kids need to help them learn.
I will identify at-risk children in elementary school, and provide special support for them.
I will identify high school kids planning to drop out, and work with them to keep them in school.
I will provide more vocational training for those who don’t want to go to college.
I’ll focus on the racial achievement gap and address the root reasons of it.
I’ll make longer schools days and years.
I’ll make sure all students have good arts, physical education and other creative programs.
I’ll set out a real plan for a city school system, where schools are the heart of the community, and provide basic and enrichment services to students of all ages.
I’ll phase out the busing as we develop quality schools in every community.
I’ll stop wasting our children’s time emphasizing on MCAS preparation; private schools don’t do that to their kids, and neither should we. We should educate the whole child, not teach to a test.
I’ll stop the no-bid contracts.
that seems like a good idea.
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p>what are the root reasons of that gap?
for any sort of a reply….
The proposals by the challengers are just that, proposals. We’ve come a long way in Boston from the days when mayors took no responsibility for the schools, now leadership on these issues is expected and welcomed, with credit to Mayor Flynn for securing passage (51-49%) of an appointed School Committee in 1989 and credit to Mayor Menino for its renewal, five years later by a 50 point margin.
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p>The Menino piece is a summary of accomplishments from his web site, not a policy paper. It could have gone into more depth on some issues like technology, where a ratio of 1 computer for 62 kids was improved to one computer for every four kids. It could have talked more about the turnaround of schools like the Jeremiah Burke, which was threatened by potential loss of accreditation when Mayor Menino assumed office. It could have talked about the previous instability of the School Department, with the average tenure of a Superintendent about 1.5 years, much too short a time period for any reform to take place.
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p>That said, there’s a lot of substance in there, one that belies the claim by some that “nothing” has happened in the Boston schools since 1994. Much more progress is needed, and the Mayor’s proposal for “in district” charters, bringing reform to underperforming schools while keeping resources within the Boston Public Schools, is a continuation of the agenda started with “pilot” schools, which have since been replicated by our state government.
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p>So before one asks where we are going in terms of education, which is essential, one should also ask where people have been, because that will give you some indication of their real commitment to education.
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p>As always, the writer is a former member of the Menino Administration AND a proud graduate of Boston Technical High School (now the O’Bryant).
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