In the fall, the SFB team embarked on a series to identify the top 10 challenges facing the new superintendent, Dr. Brenda Cassellius, as she began her leadership of the Boston Public Schools.

The list was compiled with careful consideration of the concerns we’ve heard from Boston families and community stakeholders, as well as recent media reports and available data. All sources and indicators point to growing achievement gaps among student groups, substandard facilities, fiscal instability for school communities, and the city’s unwillingness to address a three-decade-plus decline in student population.

Below, we summarize the key takeaways of each of the 10 challenges and welcome you to revisit each one for greater understanding of the primary issues at hand.

#1. The State of BPS High Schools

• Less than half of BPS high schools have accreditation, meaning they are meeting a bare minimum of standards. 
• The BPS graduation rate is in the bottom third of all high schools in the state and — as reported by the Boston Globe on February 14 — just sunk lower. In addition, the existing gaps between student groups in the BPS are growing, with Black and Latinx students significantly lagging behind White and Asian peers and falling below statewide averages.

#2. The State of BPS Academics

• There are no clear academic standards across BPS high schools and a chemistry class in one school, for example, can look quite different than a chemistry class in another high school when it comes to curriculum, content, and rigor.
• Only 30 percent of BPS graduates meet MassCore standards, the state’s recommended course of study in place since 2007 to align coursework with “college and workforce expectations.”

#3. Student Wellness

• BPS has a large, high-needs population and lacks adequate staffing to support its students.
• In May 2019, BPS agreed to hire 23 additional licensed mental health counselors. In October 2019, none had been hired. As of February 2020, 10 of the 23 have been hired.

#4. & #5. Persistent Achievement Gaps in BPS Elementary and Middle Schools

• For 3rd grade literacy, more than 60 percent of White and Asian students meet or exceed expectations on the state’s annual MCAS compared to only 30 percent of their Black and Latinx classmates.
• For 8th grade math, the majority of White and Asian students meet or exceed expectations on the state’s annual MCAS while there is a 38-point gap (and greater) when compared to Black and Latinx classmates.

#6. Teacher Diversity

• The teaching staff of the BPS, which is 58 percent white, does not mirror its student population, which is 86 percent students of color.
• Despite stated efforts toward hiring diversity, BPS lost 14 percent of African American teachers and 19 percent of Latinx teachers in one year; from school year 2017-18 to 2018-19.

#7. Meeting the Needs of Students with Disabilities

• In 2011, BPS pledged to have 75 percent of students with disabilities in full or partial inclusion settings by 2020, but still remains short of this goal at 60 percent.
• There are more than 11,000 students with disabilities in the BPS and a disproportionate number — more than twice the state target — spend their time in separate classrooms.

#8. Meeting the Needs of English Learners

• There are more than 16,500 English Learners (EL) in the BPS and nearly half of the overall BPS student population — 48 percent — do not speak English as their first language.
• Ten years after the U.S. Department of Justice sanctioned the BPS for failing to meet the needs of EL students, the district is still not meeting all of the requirements outlined in this 2010 agreement.

#9. BPS Facilities

• BuildBPS was launched by Mayor Walsh more than five years ago, but school communities have a lack of clarity on what’s happening to transform existing schools or to build new ones equipped for 21st century learning. 
• Majority of the city’s schools were built before 1940 and require $3.2 billion in identified repairs. Despite an announced investment of $1 billion over 10 years to address these items, half of this funding has already been spent after three years on new boilers, windows, and other incidental repairs.

#10. The Fiscal State of BPS

• Boston students should attend fully staffed, full service schools and the city has the resources to make this possible as a result of its strong and growing tax base.
• Brighton High’s dwindling enrollment — from 1,209 students in 2009 to 535 students in 2019 — is reflective of the city’s ongoing loss of school-age children that has yet to be adequately addressed or planned, resulting in BPS spreading resources thin.

Does your priority or challenge list differ from ours? We’d like to know what’s your top priority for the new superintendent. Email us at info@schoolfactsboston to let us know your thoughts.