I’ve had a particular conversation many times over the years. I’ll be at a playground with my grandchildren, talking with parents of preschool children. The parents say how much they like the neighborhood but will likely move to the suburbs when their children are school age. They usually cite the suburbs’ newer facilities, predictability of assignment, and a view that the quality of suburban schools is better.
This conversation can be heard across the city, and the net result is that about half of Boston’s preschool population leave the city by the time they reach age five. As Boston’s population continues to rise, its school age population has been declining since the 1980s.
That’s why Mayor Michelle Wu’s recent State of the Schools address matters. Apparently the first time that a mayor of Boston has given such an address, it calls attention to the need for a focus on schools if the city is to become what Mayor Wu has pledged: “the best place in the country to raise a family.”
Critics noted the lack of detailed targets and timelines, but the message was clear: The mayor intends to use her considerable political capital to prioritize Boston’s schools. That alone marks a major shift. In my lifetime, no mayor has won – or lost – an election based on the condition of Boston’s schools.
Over the past few decades, Boston’s schools have been allowed to deteriorate while nearly every surrounding suburban community has seen their schools newly built or modernized. At the same time, developers of additional Boston housing have overwhelmingly favored building studio and one-bedroom units, not homes for families. What message does this send young families considering their school options?
So, credit where it is due: Thank you, Mayor Wu. Boston’s schools need your attention.
If this effort is to succeed, the school committee must continue to be appointed by the mayor, not elected, as most of the candidates for city council have proposed. Real progress, such as merging or consolidating schools, closing outdated school buildings and building modern ones, requires stable leadership and a mayor who is fully accountable, as she controls the school budget. An elected committee would invite factional battles, prevent important decisions from being made, and frustrate efforts to change.
Mayor Wu could also use her political capital to deal with one of the major reasons why families leave – the assignment process, which provides no predictability as to where a child will go to school. Most districts determine the schools their students will attend by where their families live. That approach creates predictability, builds neighborhood support for local schools, and, in Boston’s case, would reduce the $189 million we currently spend on busing students all over the city. Those dollars would be better used to fully fund K-0 for three-year-olds, develop more Early College and P-Tech programs, and invest to make Madison Park into the exceptional Vo-Tech school it ought to be.
But improved schools are just part of what is needed to make Boston the best place in the country to raise a family. The suburbs invest heavily in libraries, youth services, and parks, but there is no reason why Boston can’t outdo them.
Mayor Wu’s address on the state of the schools noted how Boston’s businesses, institutions, colleges, and hospitals need to invest in Boston, “stepping up for our families and our future.”
Boston has more higher education programs, schools, and institutions per capita than most anywhere in the world. There’s a lot of work to be done to connect these institutions to the children of Boston, but the opportunities are there, and it’s good to see that the mayor is up for the challenge.
