Maura Hennigan's EDUCATION POSITION STATEMENT
I believe that Boston
is a world class city and deserves a world class public education system. I
believe that Boston’s competitive edge in the national and global
economy is dependent on government’s investment in public education. Our region’s knowledge based industries
demand a highly educated and well trained work force. I believe that a high performing public
school system is an investment in the economic future of our children and of
our city.
Boston led our country as the birthplace of public
education. We should treasure this heritage and ensure that our public school
system is a model of excellence.
Having taught in the Boston Public Schools for seven years, I recognize
the critical importance of an environment for learning where students are
treated as unique and complete individuals, where teachers and administrators
are supported and provided the resources they need to succeed, and where
parents and community are involved and engaged in the development of our city’s
young people.
I believe that we have the resources and the ability to make that vision
a reality. Over the past two years residential taxes in Boston have risen 25%.
A large part of our tax dollars are spent to reduce crime, poverty, teen
pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse and communicable diseases. I believe that a strong public school system
for our children will alleviate some of these problems by better preparing our
children to function as independent and productive adults. I believe that we owe it to our citizens and
their children to make all Boston
public schools high performing schools. Through strong leadership, focus and
commitment, I will lead Boston
to achieve this goal.
As Mayor I will bring real reform to the Boston Public School system. This will be one of the cornerstones of the
Hennigan administration. I believe that together we can do better.
You are being told that the Boston
Public Schools are doing well. What do you think?
The Menino Administration Report Card:
LOSING OUR CHILDREN: The Drop Out Crisis*
- Nearly 25% of high school students in Boston
Public Schools drop out before graduation.
- The number of students dropping out from middle
school quadrupled between 1996 and 2000 and continues to rise.
- The majority of those middle school students who
drop out, leave with less than a 7th grade education.
- Students who drop out prior to 8th
grade do not take the MCAS exams for that year, indicating that the poor 8th
grade performance on MCAS exams does not even tell the whole truth – that
many of our children don’t even remain in school long enough to take the
exams.
- The annual drop out rate in Boston Public
Schools has been increasing over the past 2 years. There is currently no comprehensive
approach to dropout prevention.
LEAVING OUR CHILDREN BEHIND: Boston Children Score Below Average In Testing*
- Overall, Boston public school students are rated “low
performing” in English and “very low performing” in Math.
- The 2004 MCAS show 25% of 10th
graders received “failure/warning” grades in English and 27% received
“failure/warning” grades in Math. This compares to state averages of 11%
and 15% respectively. 14% of Boston public school seniors did not pass the MCAS.
- In 2004, 37% of incoming freshman to our state’s
public colleges, who graduated from Boston public high schools, needed remedial courses in
reading, writing and math.
- As of February 2005, 27% of all high school
seniors were failing the MCAS and in danger of not graduating.
- As of February 2005 58% of students in special
education in Boston Public Schools had failing scores in MCAS. Learning disabled children are rated
“very low performing” in English and “critically low performing” in Math.
FAILING OUR CHILDREN: Not Enough Resources*
- Ten years ago Mayor Menino announced a campaign
to get all Boston children reading at grade level by the end of 3rd
grade. Today, almost 65% of Boston’s 3rd graders have not met that
goal; they still require additional resources and support to achieve
proficiency in reading. This is nearly double the state average.
- Ten years of proven educational innovations
developed in our city’s pilot schools are not benefiting all of our
children. The Menino administration
has failed to implement these successful educational strategies across the
Boston Public Schools, leaving parents competing to get their children
into a limited number of pilot school seats, and leaving most of our
children without access to the best educational systems developed here in
our city.
- 50% of new teachers in the Boston Public Schools
will leave within 5 years.
- After one year of teaching in Boston Public
Schools, almost one third of new teachers shortened their expectations for
remaining in their job.
A Hennigan Administration Will Mean Real
Reform of the Boston Public Schools
BELIEVING IN A BETTER BOSTON MEANS: Community
- I will work to reinstate an elected school
committee to give parents and the community a voice in the future of their
schools.
- I will create an environment of collaboration
and cooperation where we can address problems as a community, by
implementing a problem solving approach between government, the school
committee, parents and teachers.
BELIEVING IN A BETTER BOSTON MEANS: Accountability
- I will create partnerships
between schools, community based organizations and institutions of higher
learning to phase-in after-school programming and extended day programs
across the system to ensure that we keep our city’s youth engaged and
productive in those crucial afternoon hours before parents get home from
work and families come together.
- I will work toward a “work-day/school day” in
which school hours are extended to mirror the working hours of most
parents. This will provide more learning time and ensure our children are
prepared for our increasingly competitive economic environment. A school day that mirrors the parent
workday reduces the need for costly daycare for children and reduces the
worry parents have about their adolescents who are home alone and without
structure. I will work closely with
the Boston School Committee and the Boston Teachers Union to make sure
that implementation of the “work-day/school-day” includes proper compensation
and incentives for teachers and staff.
- I will encourage our school
system to foster the overall development of every child, including- but
not limited to- character development, financial literacy, vocational
training, special education and cultural and recreational needs.
- I will work with parents, teachers,
administrators and the Boston School Committee to expand the
implementation of K-8 schools in the city to improve stability and
diversity throughout those critical years of a child’s education. The
School Department should not treat expansion of k-8 as a neighborhood
competition… It is a model that should be provided to all families.
Students build strong relationships over the 8 years and this model has
been shown to result in fewer discipline problems, better academic
performance and a smoother transition to high school.
- I will work to create a comprehensive approach
to dropout prevention which will include extended day programming and
individual support services to “at risk” students to motivate them to stay
in school.
BELIEVING IN A BETTER BOSTON MEANS: Results
- I will replicate the innovative, effective
approaches to learning developed and applied by pilot schools across all
of our public schools. Having
initiated the effort to create the Patrick Lyndon Pilot School, one of the highest achieving public schools in Boston, I understand the value of pilot schools as
laboratories for excellence. As
Mayor I will implement the 10 years of lessons learned in our City’s pilot
schools and other high performing schools so that all schools in every
neighborhood of the City have access to these effective models.
- I will work toward our schools measuring
educational success by a comprehensive “student portfolio” in which
students’ are evaluated based on their overall educational performance. I believe high stakes testing is only
one measure of good performance.
- I will create strong and successful incentives
to attract and retain teachers in schools across all neighborhoods of the
city, including professional development, sufficient resources, and a
strong mentoring program.
I believe in a better Boston, and as your Mayor I will work to make Boston’s public schools one of the reasons families will
seek out Boston as a place to work and live.
Maura Hennigan
At Large City Councillor
Candidate for Mayor
SOURCES FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS
The Drop Out
Crisis:
- The Boston Indicators Project 2004
- Mass Department of Education 2004 Report
- Boston Globe, 5-13-2004, “High School Drop Out Rate Raises Concern” by
Megan Tench
- Mass Advocates for Children, The Boston School Reform Initiative, MassAdvocates.org
- “Drop Out Crisis Developing in Boston Middle
Schools” by Anne Wheelock, 5-23-2002
- Harvard Civil Rights Project
- Boston Urban Youth Foundation
- Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Organization of Schools
- Engaging Urban Youth through Community-based
Action: How the “School Success” Truancy Prevention Program Motivates
Middle Schoolers”, Harvard Graduate School of
Education 3-5-2003
Boston Children Score Below
Average in Testing:
- The Boston Globe, MCAS 2004 Results
- Mass Department of Education 2004 Report
- Boston Public Schools 2004 District Report Card
- Boston Indicators Project 2004
- Mass Advocates for Children, The Boston School Reform Initiative, MassAdvocates.org
- Boston Globe, 6-25-2005, “Colleges Question MCAS Success” by Maria Sacchetti
- “Schools Left Behind”, The Boston Globe Editorial, 11-10-2004
Not Enough Resources:
- The Boston Globe, 5-21-2005, “Follow the Boston Pilot Schools” by William
G. Ouchi, author of “Making Schools Work”,
professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management
- Harvard Civil Rights Project
- Boston Teachers Union, BTU e-Bulletin 1-26-2005
- “Boston’s Ongoing Reading Problem” by Samuel L. Blumenfeld, 7-23-2001 WorldNet Daily
- “Building a Professional Teaching Corps in Boston: A Baseline Study of New Teachers in Boston
Public Schools 4-2004
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