Statement from Boston Coalition for Education Equity on Exam School Task Force Recommendations

Today is a good day for children in Boston and also a very bad day.

Good, because the BPS budget passed and because the School Committee is receiving a proposal from the Exam School Admissions Task Force, who have worked diligently and publicly for months to open three schools, especially Boston Latin School, to more low-income, Black, and Latinx students, more English learners, and more students with disabilities. 

But it’s also a very bad day, because at the last moment, after the Task Force had reached consensus, several city councillors moved in secret to compel the Task Force to change its proposal to the recommendation you will hear tonight-- to restore some of the privilege that students from wealthier families and white families have enjoyed in the past.

BPS data showed that distributing 20% of seats by citywide rank would only serve to increase representation for white students and students from wealthier neighborhoods such as West Roxbury, which would be significantly overrepresented by inclusion of the 20% set-aside. So the Task Force agreed to eliminate this handout to a tiny handful of Boston’s most privileged families. 

This conflict is really over 20% of Boston Latin School. 90 students. And for the maintenance of that privileged access, a few Boston City Councilors threatened the 53,000 mostly Black & LatinX, economically disadvantaged students in BPS in the worst year that they and their communities had faced in their young lives.

That was shameful. 

The Boston Coalition for Education Equity calls on the School Committee to move forward with the recommendation that the Task Force originally reached consensus on this Monday, the result of four months of intense study and debate: to assign seats using 100% straight rank in socio-economic tiers. 

Your charge is to look out for all Boston’s children, not just those who already enjoy so much more privilege than most.

The Task Force’s original plan, not the one agreed to under duress, is a significant step toward equity and justice. We call on you to vote next month to take that step.