A 31-year-old teacher and 17-year-old student were shot in the parking lot of Dorchester’s TechBoston Academy Tuesday night. The victims are in stable condition, and school was canceled Wednesday. No suspects have been arrested yet.
“They are doing well,” Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said. “I obviously can't speak to the investigation currently because it is an active investigation, but I have full confidence that BPD [Boston Police Department] is going to continue to investigate and get to the bottom of who did this horrible, horrible act within our community.”
Here’s what else she had to say on Boston Public Radio Wednesday.
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The teacher labor shortage is “really scary”
As schools face a staffing crisis, Cassellius wants to see a Marshall Plan for the teacher labor shortage and school infrastructure. “Twenty-seven percent of our teachers are eligible to retire and they're tired — our teachers, our educators, our school leaders, just really exhausted,” she said. “I don't think people really understand how very challenging it has been.”
Some of her ideas to promote teacher retention and growth include reciprocity across states for teaching licenses, retention bonuses, forgiving student loans for teachers and removing fees for teacher certification tests, fingerprinting and more. She also wants to see funds directed towards Boston's many decrepit school buildings including drinkable wate in all schoolsr, libraries and renovated windows and bathrooms.
Cassellius says the stakes are high. “I worry that we might not have enough caring and competent teachers in our classrooms this fall,” she said.
She respects the mayor’s decision to choose her own team
When the superintendent announced her resignation in February, she called the decision “mutual” between her and Mayor Michelle Wu. Now, Cassellius elaborated and recognized that being superintendent is a political role.
“I knew as a political appointee that this could come to pass at some point,” she said. “She [Wu] has her right to pick her own team and I respect that highly and I respect her, and I look forward to her vision for this school district, for this city.”
Cassellius also affirmed her commitment to a smooth transition to the next superintendent.
Words of advice for those applying for her job
“Boston is a political town,” Cassellius said. “You have to have a superintendent who has the courage to take on the really systemic issues within the district and really rightfully to take an anti-racist lens to the really [big] challenges that face this district.”
The superintendent said her successor must be able to simultaneously tackle big and small issues with political savvy. “Boston is not an easy media market,” she said. “There is the threat always of receivership, there's a lot of noise.”
Still, she recommends that those considering the job apply. “Boston Public Schools is a great place to work, and I love the colleagues that I get to work with every single day and our children are worth the best,” she said. “I would absolutely encourage everybody to apply. What I would say to them personally, however, is you have to be ready and you have to have tough skin.”
