By Josh Kraft.
The last three-and-a-half years have seen the promise of Boston Public Schools (BPS) grow dimmer and dimmer. And Boston voters should be asking: why?
It starts with Mayor Wu. Certainly, when she was elected, enrollment was going down. The achievement gap was going up. Buses routinely couldn’t get kids to school on time. And many school buildings were literally crumbling. As a result, the district was on the verge of being put into the hands of a state-appointed receiver.
As a candidate, Michelle Wu promised to have elected members on the School Committee and to pass a “Green New Deal” to rebuild BPS schools. As mayor, she promised “real change” “for students and parents before ultimately cutting a deal with the state to avoid receivership that is set to expire next month.
Unfortunately, under her watch, BPS has stood for “Broken Promises at School” – with “real change” replaced by “more of the same.”
Achievement gaps have widened across all subjects and grades, with a 52-point achievement gap between Black and Latino students and White students for grade 10 math. Over a third of BPS kids now attend the bottom 10 percent of schools in the state. Fewer than 1-in-5 students are meeting math and ELA benchmarks.
Despite per pupil spending going up by almost 20 percent, graduation rates are down for the second year in a row. The $200+ million renovation of White Stadium has left Madison Park Vo-Tech sitting untouched. Meanwhile, the mayor went back on her promise to elect School Committee members, denying the ability for diverse voices to be heard and appreciated.
BPS students and families have been consistently blindsided by school closing announcements on short notice. Meanwhile, buses have consistently failed to meet even their minimum on-time arrival threshold despite a budget-busting $171 million spent annually to bus about 20,000 students.
By measure after measure, BPS is worse off today than it was 3+ years ago.
I believe we can’t have a just society if our schools continue to fail kids. As mayor, I will focus on making progress in four key areas that Mayor Wu has ignored.
First, we will educate all students. Through high dosage tutoring and community partnerships, I am committed to increasing literacy rates by 10 percent. I support renovating Madison Park Vo-Tech with a community-oriented vision. Every school will have the resources for children’s mental health.
Second, parents will be heard. I’ll reinstitute an “Office of Parents” to connect families, BPS administration, and the Mayor’s Office. We’ll have a Hybrid-Elected School Committee accountable to voters and parents. Each family will receive a personalized roadmap through BPS telling them which schools their student will attend and who they can talk to.
Third, we will leverage relationships with labor unions and businesses. Partnering with colleges and universities will meet staffing needs and provide teachers with valuable experience.
Lastly, I will insist on competent management at BPS. As mayor, I’ll have a plan for school facilities within my first year. I’ll split the superintendent’s job into “operations” and “schools” to focus on academic success and the practical aspects of schools. We’ll streamline bureaucracy by evaluating redundant positions at BPS’s central office. And we’ll have a productive relationship with the state, improving performance and providing much-needed resources.
When I ran the Boys and Girls Club, we had a saying: “I care.”
Many years ago, I met one eighth-grade girl named Michelle. Her mother was struggling and completely overwhelmed. And because Michelle had scabies, she was too embarrassed to go to school. We helped enroll her in a back-to-school program in Charlestown. Sometimes she would take the T – but other times I would drive her myself. For the first time, Michelle felt good about herself and was attending school regularly. It showed me what was possible when kids saw that someone cared and was invested in their success.
I’m running for mayor because kids like Michelle deserve public schools that demonstrate that they care – not through speeches or promises but through action. That is how we educate our kids regardless of background, ethnicity, or income level. It is the kind of organization that I want BPS to be – and that Boston deserves.
Josh Kraft is running for mayor of Boston.
