Nearly a week after the state drafted a partnership agreement to upgrade Boston’s schools, Mayor Michelle Wu countered with a proposal of her own, asking for the city to retain much of its authority and $10 million to support improvements, according to a copy of the proposal obtained by GBH News.
The proposal comes as Wu and other Boston officials have repeatedly rejected potential state receivership of the school system, a prospect raised by a pair of damning state reviews released over the course of the pandemic.
Both assessments — one released in March 2020, the other earlier this month — identified the state's largest school system as struggling to manage special education services, the school assignment system, and “major operational functions” like transportation, facilities, safety protocols and data reporting.
Wu, who secured the mayor’s seat in a landslide victory after campaigning on school reform, has said the issues raised in the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reports are not new, a concept alluded to in her administration’s seven-page counterproposal.
“The parties agree that urgent action must be taken to address the long-standing challenges facing BPS,” the document, dated May 25, states. “The City of Boston, the Boston Public Schools, and DESE agree to work together in a targeted, strengthened partnership to immediately address systemic barriers to education opportunity, build the operational capacity to implement systemic change, and support Boston’s most vulnerable students — including students with disabilities and English learners — in achieving their full potential.”
The proposal goes on to outline the city's and state's proposed commitments and specific goals and deadlines in student safety, special education, transportation, facilities, English learners, accountability and schools the state has designated as underperforming.
The $10 million from the state would go towards supporting implementation. The amount is less than one percent of the BPS budget.
New officials hired under the proposal would include a coordinator of problem resolution, hired by September to respond to complaints received through the state and a consultant or team dedicated to improving special education services that would report directly to a new school superintendent to be hired by August.
The document does not identify a timeline or circumstances for terminating the agreement.
The state education department declined to comment or release a copy of its draft proposal Thursday night.
“Everything is still in discussion and in draft form,” said an agency spokesperson. “We are not sharing anything at this point.”
In a statement to GBH News, the mayor said her counterproposal would empower the city to “drive a reform agenda” while fostering “genuine partnership” with the state.
“We’re proposing specific action steps and timelines for immediate improvement and a foundation for systemic change in areas like special education and transportation. We look forward to the collaboration,” the mayor said in the statement.
BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius echoed Wu’s comments in a statement regarding the proposal late Thursday.
"Our comprehensive plan acknowledges the urgency of this work and the shared interest between the Wu administration, Boston Public Schools, and DESE in rapid improvement. It is good for students and families and builds upon the momentum BPS has created and that was highlighted in the DESE review. We look forward to working collaboratively with DESE to ensure all BPS students have access to a high-quality education that helps them reach their full potential. The report finds longstanding challenges in the areas of special education and transportation, and we are confident the plan we put in place, along with the benchmarks that will help us to monitor progress over time, will result in substantial improvement in these areas.”
Until this week, the mayor was privately attempting to negotiate an agreement between the city, BPS, and the state.
Earlier this week, on GBH’s Boston Public Radio, Wu said she sought assurances the school district could avoid receivership but received none.
“But, we’re each playing a different role in this,” Wu said in an interview Tuesday. “My role as mayor is to advocate, to provide all the resources outside the schools from city departments, from other sectors, and to continue making our case,” she said, pointing to the Boston School Committee’s forthcoming superintendent selection.
“That leader needs to be fully empowered with all the decision making and resources that they need to move quickly on these big challenges.”
