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Aiming for A’s in Boston PROMINENT researchers meeting over the weekend at Harvard University highlighted the racial divide in urban and suburban school districts while arguing for a stronger regional perspective in school governance and greater metropolitan cooperation. But educators in Boston barely had time to take note while they prepared for today’s arrival of 62,000 students, most of whom come from poor, minority families. “We have an obligation to deal with the young people we’re fortunate to have,” said the school system’s chief operating officer, Michael Contompasis, who had not yet seen the Harvard racial disparity study. Almost 80 percent of the students in Boston’s public schools qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, a low-income indicator. But city and school officials are sending strong messages that poverty need not prohibit high achievement or wall off students from top-rate facilities. Yesterday Mayor Menino touted improved scores on the college admission SAT tests in Boston while standing in the computer room of a stately new 776-student middle school in Mattapan. More than 2,000 Boston students will be starting school today in three new facilities. Sociologists say the negative effects of poverty rise along with the percentage of poor people in a neighborhood or a school system. But innovations are taking place in community development and education that counter such views. Concentrated effort can be stronger than concentrated poverty. Such efforts are seen in Boston, where educators are breaking down large, ineffective high schools into smaller autonomous schools with the help of a Gates Foundation grant and are also earmarking $1 million for math coaches to help students move from passing to proficiency on the high-stakes Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests. Persistence will be the theme at October’s all-city graduation ceremony for students who could not graduate with their classes last spring but subsequently passed the MCAS retest. Glitches will occur today and in the coming weeks. The human resources office remains a weak spot in the Boston system. Frazzled principals struggle to shore up teacher assignments. Richard Stutman, president of the Boston Teachers’ Union, predicts confidently that “99 percent” of assignments will be made by Monday. But it’s not clear whether those positions will be filled with the strongest educators available. The need remains to streamline teacher hiring practices, increase in-school professional development time for teachers, and intervene quickly in failing schools. Union and management are negotiating on these issues but remain far apart. Still, opening day in Boston should find students and faculty working toward one common and realistic dream: competing educationally with wealthier districts.
This story ran on page A14 of the Boston Globe on 9/3/2003.
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