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School superintendent to resign
By adamg on Wed, 04/24/2013 - 11:36am
Johnson discusses the Marathon and her decision to resign.
Boston School Superintendent Carol Johnson announced today she will leave at the end of the school year, due in large part to her husband's death last month:
This has been a difficult decision, but as you aware, the loss of my husband and best friend Matthew last month has been life-altering for me and my entire family.
Johnson has served for six years:
We have improved our high school graduation rates and MCAS performance; we have brought hundreds of students back who had dropped out of school, and are closing achievement gaps. We have expanded academic support for our English Language Learners and students with disabilities, and we have increased the number of quality school choices through our turnaround, in-district charter and innovation schools.
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Comments
Shocker
I'm not a fan of Johnson and I guess this is no surprise given Menino's departure. That being said, a new mayor won't be elected until November and therefore a new superintendent won't be installed until early next year, right? Not a great time for a rudderless BPS.
On the other hand, I hope Menino doesn't install someone on his way out the door either.
What have we learned?
Now that we know appointed carpetbaggers from out of State and appointed School Committee members do nothing to improve the School System, let's go back to electing a School Committee, then we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
Carpet baggers?
I bet the large chunk of the families in the BPS are first generation Bostonians. Maybe they're immigrants or they moved into Boston from other parts of the state or country, but the whole 'not from here' thing is parochial bullshit.
I want competent staff at the BPS, not Boston-bred staff. They aren't mutually exclusive characteristics of course.
Do you have kids in the system?
I ask because it seems like nobody else is willing to accept that schools are, in fact, better than they used to be. Far from perfect, but in the right direction.
Payzant deserves a lot of the credit, but then again, he had a lot more time to work with. And while the current superintendent has had her problems (headmasters, anyone?), I'd still argue schools are better today than when she arrived.
I'll take a competent superintendent from away than a homegrown incompetent any day.
As for an elected school committee, I'll grant you that - although the hybrid approach might work as well. I think Boston voters might be mature enough now to get a more direct voice back.
Elected
I don't know if there's really value in the elected school committee. We elect the mayor to run the city, including the schools. We don't elect the head of the DPW or the BRA (ha), etc... Seems like electing a school committee will lead to lots of pandering to local voters and even more opportunities for BPS administrators to not make hard decisions. I think nothing significant would ever get done and instead there would be a slow decline as the committee members fought to protect their little fiefdoms at the expense of real reform and tough decisions. It would end up being a whole committee full of turds like Carlos Martinez.
BPS 5 year Capital Facilities master plan just released
http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/files/2013-04-24_bps_capital_facilities_master_plan_phase_i_-_draft_-_final.pdf
No school for YOU!
Back Bay, Beacon Hill and Fenway!
Looks like they will expand capacity in the Eliot/Mitt Romney Memorial grade school in the North End, but despite promises to find a location for a riverfront neighborhood school - none seems to be outlined or even mentioned in the plan.