Boston Public Schools has had a revolving door of superintendents. Parents aren’t happy

Earlier this week, Boston Public Schools announced that Superintendent Brenda Cassellius would be stepping down at the end of the school year. It's been two very difficult years for schools, as many teachers and school officials are leaving. Cambridge's public school superintendent left last summer, and Boston is now in a similar position. The district has seen four different people leading the city schools in the last 10 years. Peter Kadzis, GBH senior politics editor, and Meg Woolhouse, GBH education reporter, joined host Henry Santoro on Morning Edition to discuss. This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

Henry Santoro: Meg, let's start with you. Transitions are difficult for kids and adults alike. What's the mood among parents and students over this announcement?

Meg Woolhouse: Well, Henry, I think there's a lot of optimism around Wu — she's a mother of two young kids who are in the schools in Boston, and I think people feel like she might be able to fix what's broken at BPS. But that's not to understate — there's a considerable amount of frustration out there. It's a sense among parents of "here we go again" and that might even understate the level of aggravation they're feeling.

Parents have seen at least a decade of turmoil, as you said, with a revolving door of superintendents and interim superintendents. And in that time, building improvements and academic improvements have been promised, but not met. A lot of the most energetic discussion have been around the admissions policies of the city's top three exam schools. But mostly the Boston Latin School. And that's really taken up all the air in the room, so to speak.

Santoro: Peter, as we said at the top, the pandemic has not made the position of superintendent easy by any stretch. But it's not the only issue here. This is not a new problem in Boston, having a superintendent leave.

Peter Kadzis: No — there have been problems that go way back, even as far back as Ray Flynn and Mayor Menino. Let's focus on Marty Walsh, and the instability in the Boston Public Schools is clearly Marty Walsh's fault. He had a flawed first search for a superintendent. We got Tommy Chang, who relatively quickly washed out. Then there was a second better search and there was a superb candidate, Marie Izquierdo, from Miami. She fell afoul of the powers that be when she made it clear that she thought they had to close schools to make running the system more efficient.

That left Brenda Cassellius as the default candidate and the darling of the teachers union. And Ms. Cassellius has proven to be not a good administrator. Just to cite one example, she's run through four chiefs of staff in two years.

Santoro: This is for both of you — has her response to the pandemic been welcomed?

Woolhouse: The pandemic, I think it's been a very rough ride for her. Cassellius had been on the job less than a year when schools closed, but I don't think Cassellius' response helped build trust among parents in the district. The district is primarily Black and Latino, and parents have been promised much over the years and bore the brunt of the pandemic illnesses and job losses.

Parents of Boston special needs students especially struggled to get the district to listen to the fact that their kids needed to be in school early on in the pandemic and special needs kids were regressing during remote learning and their parents were heartbroken because they were watching it up close.

Santoro: Peter — effective or not?

Kadzis: Well, first of all, I didn't sound very sympathetic the first time. I'm a little sympathetic the second time. COVID was an incredible challenge. Unfortunately, Superintendent Cassellius did not meet it. Let me cite an example: the surprise closing of the Curley school. That was triggered by parents who had been keeping a close watch, a much closer watch than the city had. They were tracking COVID, and it was the parents that forced the closure of the school. That's not out-front administration. There was also backlash from the citywide school nurses union. These nurses were the front line of fighting COVID. So that doesn't inspire confidence.

Santoro: Meg, it seems clear that parents want and actually need a level of stability considering the pandemic, the turnover of superintendents. Can Wu deliver? Will she bring in someone local like they're talking about?

Woolhouse: Well, that's a great question. Wu hinted earlier this week that she wants someone local for the job. Here's what she said at a press conference the day after announcing Cassellius' departure.

Santoro: So is this a “wait and see” thing now?

Woolhouse: Well, it actually made me think she already has someone in mind. I think Wu understands that the next super needs the trust of students, their parents and Boston teachers to really hit the ground running.

Kadzis: Henry, let me make an educated guess, and this is based on calling around yesterday and talking to people. The people I spoke to who had no inside knowledge. But if I were a betting man, I might put some money on Rachel Skerritt. She is the head of school at Boston Latin School. She's super smart. She doesn't have heavy-duty system wide experience. However, she was Carol Johnson's chief of staff, a former superintendent. So I would say, keep an eye on Rachel Skerritt. There'll be other people considered. But that's my best guess.

Santoro: If Rachel Skerritt is happy where she is, why would she even consider taking on this monstrosity?

Kadzis: That's what I might say, but she's a very accomplished woman. And my hunch is —

Santoro: People will welcome the challenge. I get that.

Kadzis: She would like the challenge and being head of school at Boston Latin School hasn't exactly been the bed of roses either. So she's been tested by fire.