With a brand new college superintendent and freshly-inked settlement with the state in her pocket, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu might be absolutely accountable for town’s troubled colleges system.
Now is the time for Wu to show a brand new chapter within the historical past of Boston’s crises-riddled colleges and its 49,000 college students.
Will Wu grow to be an actual activist and engaged mayor or will she simply settle for a similar outdated drained picture ops of studying books to youngsters that different mayors earlier than her have tried?
The rookie Boston mayor truly got here up with two certified superintendent candidates with roots within the district – not Chicago or Los Angeles. Wu’s most well-liked alternative was a not-so-tightly held secret — Somerville Superintendent Mary Skipper — and that’s who the School Committee ended up selecting.
Just days in the past, Wu fended off the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s threats to take over town’s colleges and even prevented getting the dreaded “underperforming” ranking that might have saddled town with further sanctions.
She additionally withstood a last-minute maneuver by the Boston NAACP to place the superintendent search on maintain as a result of neither of the 2 finalists had been Black.
Now can she maintain it?
Wu really owns the varsity system disaster now, for higher or worse. And with the pending choice of a brand new police commissioner, she might be taking up quite a lot of new obligations and issues. The new superintendent and commissioner will outline Wu’s first time period and decide whether or not she’s a hit or not.
Can she proceed to assist lecturers, navigate check scores, keep on high of attendance charges and cope with the issues of violence and COVID at school school rooms?
The settlement with the state DESE consists of many benchmarks and necessities to enhance the faculties’ efficiency, like busing and English language studying.
It received’t be simple. If Wu can get the buses to run on time, that’s an achievement all by itself.
And no extra publicity stunts please, like outgoing Superintendent Brenda Cassellius taking on as substitute instructor, or the mayor studying to high school youngsters. We noticed sufficient of that underneath Mayors Marty Walsh and Tom Menino.
Walsh ended up feuding along with his personal superintendent and by no means obtained the faculties again on observe. Menino promised yearly to make the faculties his primary precedence.
It really is a brand new starting for Boston colleges underneath Wu, the feisty first-term mayor who stays widespread with voters regardless of her aggressive type.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”