At Mayoral Forum, Candidates Outline Their Plans for The Boston Public School System
Boston, MA — At last week’s Boston Mayoral Forums, candidates answered questions around issues affecting Boston’s school communities — school budget, instituting an elected school committee, and upgrading the school facilities. The forum, hosted by the Boston Teachers Union and Boston Education Justice Alliance, was the fourth in a series of six forums focused on gender, race, and economic justice for Boston residents.
“This pandemic has had severe impacts on our school communities and further exacerbated existing inequities. As we recover, we are looking forward to the bold leadership of our next mayor to rebuild and reshape the future of our school system,” said Jessica Tang, President, Boston Teachers Union, co-host of this week’s forum. “We are thankful to have heard from candidates on how they plan to make our schools safer, stronger, and more equitable. We also hope that this forum will continue to provide an insightful conversation to voters who will be making the decision to pick our next mayor soon.”
“This is a great chance for candidates to express how they will address the inequities that exist in BPS and work to close the opportunity gaps that existed long before the pandemic, which continue to primarily impact our Black, Latinx, AAPI and Native families in Boston,” said Suleika Soto, Parent Organizer, BEJA, co-host of this week’s forum. “Our next mayor should not only help Boston recover, but go beyond that to create a new normal by giving school communities the tools, resources, and opportunities to help every student succeed.”
Among other issues, candidates elaborated on how they would ensure that the necessary resources are provided to schools to create inclusionary classrooms.
“We have to do inclusion right. Not just dumping, but making sure we have the necessary support in our classrooms. This is a huge issue that contributes to the opportunity in the achievement gap,” said Mayor Kim Janey, City of Boston. “… There are huge racial inequities when it comes to who is able to access these other opportunities because they’re not getting what they need here in the district and who is left and not included in the regular education classroom.”
“We need to give our teachers, schools, and staff a fighting chance,” said Jon Santiago, State Representative for the 9th Suffolk district and South End resident. “… We need to make sure that every school in BPS has adequate staffing, provide all the opportunities that students and families deserve. That means appropriate ratios: a school psychologist, a mental health professional in every school, access to nursing – particularly in a setting of a post COVID-19 world where the mental health crisis has only ballooned.”
“We all benefit from inclusion classrooms and that also means making sure that we are setting up the process for identifying students with special needs and the IEP process in a different way,” said Michelle Wu, At-Large City Councilor and Roslindale resident. “Right now, it feels like a negotiation where parents have to fight – lawyer up – demand that they get what they deserve for their young person. This should be easier, it should be supported and linguistically appropriate…”
“Parent and community engagement is critical; it’s at the core of any successful school. At BPS, we need to make sure we have the structure and support needed to both boost parent capacity to engage, create the cultures to engage and the ways for parents to be involved in their schools and what’s happening in their schools,” said John Barros, former City Economic Development Chief and Dorchester resident.
“Every child in the City of Boston deserves to have a healthy, safe learning environment,” said District 4 City Councilor Andrea Campbell. “… One of the bright spots in the ugly times we’re in is that low-interest rates are low. I have been pushing the City of Boston, even when the previous mayor was here, to accelerate the capital school projects, to actually right now be putting projects that have been in the pipeline for a long time – to accelerate those projects to be done right now.
“The Boston School Committee must be designed to prioritize stability for our children’s future while also providing accountability for the decisions made. In order for our kids to receive the best education, we must reject any opportunity for special interest and political agendas from influencing the direction of our schools,” said City Councilor At-Large Annissa Essaibi George.
The Boston Teachers Union and Boston Education Justice Alliance hosted a lightning round before ending the forum, where the candidates answered the question with a green and a red card, denoting a yes or a no, respectively. The following lists the responses from each candidate.
Question 1: Do you support having a voting student member on the School Committee?
Yes: Jon Santiago, Michelle Wu, John Barros, Andrea Campbell, Annissa Essaibi George, and Kim Janey
No: None
Question 2: Do you support implementing citywide municipal broadband internet, including the necessary infrastructure investments to make it a reality?
Yes: Michelle Wu, John Barros, Andrea Campbell, Annissa Essaibi George, Kim Janey, and Jon Santiago
No: None
Question 3: Do you believe we should target the recently-received federal education funds to hire more staff, including teachers, therapists, and interpreters, to secure smaller class sizes and increased supports for all students?
Yes: John Barros, Andrea Campbell, Annissa Essaibi George, Jon Santiago, and Michelle Wu
No: Kim Janey
Question 4: Would you support an increase to the COLA (cost of living adjustment) base to $18,000 to more accurately reflect the actual increases in the cost of living in Massachusetts?
Yes: Andrea Campbell, Annissa Essaibi George, Kim Janey, Jon Santiago, Michelle Wu, and John Barros
No: None
Question 5: Would you commit to allocating and finding the necessary resources to ensure no BPS student, including those who are undocumented, is homeless?
Yes: Annissa Essaibi George, Kim Janey, Jon Santiago, Michelle Wu, John Barros, and Andrea Campbell
No: None
Question 6: Do you support providing the necessary resources for every student to have access to Ethnic Studies as part of their curriculum?
Yes: Kim Janey, Jon Santiago, Michelle Wu, John Barros, Andrea Campbell, and Annissa Essaibi George
No: None
Question 7: We now have a temporary admissions process for the three selective BPS schools that are exam-free and combine high academic achievement requirements and geographic diversity. Do you support a similar plan moving forward?
Yes: Kim Janey and Michelle Wu
No: John Barros, Annissa Essaibi George, Andrea Campbell, and Jon Santiago
Question 8: Would you commit to working with community members and legislators to significantly reduce the amount of time that our students spend on standardized testing?
Yes: Jon Santiago, Michelle Wu, John Barros, Andrea Campbell, Annissa Essaibi George, and Kim Janey
No: None
Question 9: Do you support the elimination of MCAS as a Massachusetts graduation requirement?
Yes: Kim Janey, John Barros, Annissa Essaibi George, and Michelle Wu
No: Andrea Campbell and Jon Santiago
Question 10: Would you limit the role of private foundations, philanthropists, and privatizers from influencing policy making and priority setting for the Boston Public Schools, and instead prioritize direct stakeholder input?
Yes: Michelle Wu, John Barros, Andrea Campbell, Annissa Essaibi George, Kim Janey, and Jon Santiago
No: None
Question 11: Given the recent decisions to give the McCormack School’s green space and the Rogers School to private developers, will you commit to only using BPS properties for BPS purposes?
Yes: John Barros, Andrea Campbell, Annissa Essaibi George, Kim Janey, Jon Santiago, and Michelle Wu
No: None
Question 12: Mayor Walsh committed to an additional $100M of city funds for BPS over the next 3 years to make up for state disinvestment in education. Would you support maintaining or expanding that investment?
Yes: Andrea Campbell, Annissa Essaibi George, Kim Janey, Jon Santiago, Michelle Wu, and John Barros
No: None
Question 13: Would you support giving non-citizen BPS graduates access to the Tuition-Free Community College Plan?
Yes: Annissa Essaibi George, Kim Janey, Jon Santiago, Michelle Wu, John Barros, and Andrea Campbell
No: None
Question 14: Do you believe we should remove police officers from school buildings?
Yes: Kim Janey, John Barros, Andrea Campbell, and Michelle Wu
No: Annissa Essaibi George and Jon Santiago
Question 15: Do you agree that we should end the surveillance of students through the gang database?
Yes: Kim Janey, Andrea Campbell, and Michelle Wu
No: John Barros, Annissa Essaibi George, and Jon Santiago
These forums have been organized to hear from the candidates about their vision for a healthier, more vibrant Boston as well as their plans to address the long-standing systemic inequities in our city. As mayor, how would the candidates alleviate the challenges facing those most directly impacted by inequities while lifting up all families? The forums are designed as a series of discussions on interconnected issues that affect all Boston residents.
Thursday’s forum is staged in partnership with the Greater Boston Labor Council, NAACP Boston Branch, SEIU32BJ, Brazilian Worker Center, Alternatives for Community and Environment, Right to the City Vote, American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network, Chinese Progressive Association, and New England United for Justice.
About the Boston Teachers Unions:
The Boston Teachers Union proudly represents more than 10,000 teachers and other professionals, including school nurses, psychologists, guidance counselors, paraprofessionals, and substitute teachers. Together, we advocate for the interests of students, parents, and education professionals throughout the Boston Public Schools. We support investment in public education to ensure a stronger future for our students and our city. As a union of educators, we are part of a movement that seeks to improve all working people’s quality of life. We are united against all forms of prejudice and bigotry that would seek to devalue our students, families, or colleagues’ lives or liberties.
About the Boston Education Justice Alliance:
We are students, educators, parents, school staff, and concerned community members who are dedicated to creating the schools our communities deserve.
http://www.bostonedjustice.org/