Tell the Boston School Committee to Keep it 💯

Click Here to Sign the Petition: https://www.change.org/keepit100bps

Click Here to Sign up for public comment on Wednesday

What’s going on?

Last Wednesday, the Exam School Admissions Task Force presented their recommendation to the School Committee. But it was not the recommendation they planned to present.

After a five month public process, the Task Force agreed upon a recommendation that is clear and data-driven: to assign 100% of seats by rank in socioeconomic tiers.

Then, the night before they presented their recommendation to the School Committee, political forces moved in secret to compel the Task Force to change its recommendation to restore some of the privilege that students from wealthier families and white families have enjoyed in the past.

Opponents of exam school admissions reform are working as hard as they can to ensure that those with privilege remain privileged. They’re firing up their networks and working their powerful connections behind the scenes to block this change—just as they’ve fought fair access to exam schools for decades.

The Task Force’s original recommendation represents a historic step towards equitable access for ALL Boston’s students—and the good news is THIS FIGHT IS NOT OVER!

We need YOUR help & the help of everyone in your network to ensure that the Task Force’s original recommendation is approved by Boston’s School Committee on July 14th.

Here’s how YOU can help:

  1. Sign the Petition

    Let the MAYOR, SCHOOL COMMITTEE & CITY COUNCIL know you know that you support the Task Force’s original 100% recommendation by signing the petition here: https://www.change.org/keepit100bps


  2. Testify at Wednesday Listening Session on Exam School Admissions

We need as many people as possible to sign up to testify in support of the Task Force's original recommendation: 100% of seats distributed via rank in socioeconomic tiers.

Please encourage as many people as possible in your networks to sign up too!

The Task Force’s original recommendation is clear & easy to understand:

Distribute 100% of seats by rank within socioeconomic status tiers.

Ranking - Students will be ranked using the following formula:

  • 30% Assessment, 70% Grades

  • additional points for High Poverty Indicators

  • (For the first year, no assessment will be required due to continuing COVID-19 pandemic)

Invitations - Distributed in 10 rounds, with 10% of each SES tier’s seats allocated in each round

  • A specialized tier for students experiencing homelessness, students in the care of DCF and students living in Boston Housing Authority housing.

  • Each round will begin with the specialized tier, followed by the tier with the lowest socioeconomic band.

We support this recommendation because:

  • The Task Force engaged in a rigorous five-month public process that yielded a straightforward, data-driven plan to ensure equitable access: 100% of seats assigned by rank in socio-economic tiers.

  • Black and Latinx students have been under-represented and disproportionately disadvantaged by Boston’s exam school admissions system for decades.

  • Data was unequivocal that reserving seats for the privileged via the 20% set-aside would go against the charge of the Task Force

  • Acceding to shadowy maneuvers to ensure those with privilege remain privileged would tarnish this effort and demonstrate that Boston is still subject to the systems of inequity that have barred a generation of Black and Latinx students from access to exam schools.