BOSTON — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu laid out ambitious goals for the oldest public school district in the country during the city’s first ever “State of the Schools” address.
The mayor delivered her speech at Josiah Quincy Upper School in Chinatown on Tuesday night.
Her remarks come at a time when she says public education is under attack from the federal government.
She said Boston has had grants pulled, funding cut, and “has been a target in the federal political storm”.
“While the Trump administration tries to dismantle public education by neglect and by force, we’re doubling down on setting the highest standards for student achievement by getting the operational details right,” said Mayor Wu.
Mayor Wu said the district had the best start to the school year on record this fall.
She said more buses arrived on time this September and October than ever before.
Her speech happened just weeks after the release of Boston Public Schools’ standardized testing results.
Those results showed students have not fully recovered from the learning loss that happened during the COVID-era.
“Tonight is a historic gathering: A call to action for every sector of our city to invest in Boston’s success by stepping up for our families and our future,” said Mayor Wu. “As a BPS mom, I’m determined to deliver results not at the usual pace of government—but with the urgency our kids and families feel every day.”
The mayor said she and Superintendent Mary Skipper launched more major school building projects in the last four years than Boston has had in the previous 40 years combined.
“When our administration started, school communities were feeling the impact of the pandemic and five superintendents in just seven years,” said Mayor Wu. “Superintendent Mary Skipper has done more than steady the ship. She’s turned the tide.”
Mayor Wu acknowledges the many challenges on the horizon, including a controversial plan laying out closures and mergers to drop 17 schools by 2030.
“It shouldn’t be if you go to a very small school, you don’t get full offerings of academics or extracurriculars,” replied the mayor following her speech.
Superintendent Skipper said the plan for closures and mergers was made based on an enrollment projection from 18 months ago.
She said the district will make recommendations to the school committee in November.
“We know like urban districts across the nation, actually all districts, that enrollment is shrinking for lots of reasons,” said Skipper.
Mayor Wu said Boston Public Schools is outperforming all ten of what state administrators track as our comparable peer districts.
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