There is nothing in this article to justify the headline of "inequalities" between city schools other than scant claims in the first two sentences. And there is no evidence presented to back up this claim. Looks like the editor wrote the headline to suit his own bias. Per-pupil funding between schools is more or less equal. The quality of teachers and the city-mandated curriculum are about the same (with some exceptions like Latin and Lyndon). And the dirty little secrets are also the same in most Boston Public schools K-12 -- chronic disruption by students, lack of discipline, and most parents not caring. (I know this as a 15-year BPS teacher). Let's not pretend that this is the 1970's and we need to fight against school "inequality", lack of funding, or "bad teachers". In 2012 the #1 reason why kids aren't learning is the pervasive disruption and lack of motivation of as many as half the students, and the refusal of administration and parents to impose discipline.

@WesternCiv2 - the inequalities do exist, how about the fact that the exam schools: Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy and the O'Bryant get more funds and resources than other schools that are possibly just as good at educating children, but due to budget constraints can not offer all the "extras" like art, music, extra-curriculars, field trips etc? How about even within those three schools the fact that the O'Bryant doesn't have decent text books for the students while BLS gets new books all the time? Then let's look at the budget of other schools: some schools are level-funded from last year's budget, other schools receive huge cuts and still others get extra money which then leads to the inequality of education because the schools with cuts and even level-funded can't afford to pay for "extras" like the arts, languages, etc. Boston parents KNOW the above as fact, so by your comments I would have to conclude that you are not a Boston parent or ever have been. The facts above are not NEW, it is old news and through SEVERAL attempts to change the assignment policy BPS has failed, because they WANT to go to neighborhood schools, but how can you do that when it means condemning some children to schools that are already failing with no likelihood of improvement any time soon? And it is not about race anymore either - our city is so diverse that "segregation" (the buzz-word of the fanatics still mired in the past who do not want to move forward) is not possible. There are good and bad schools in EVERY part of Boston and one of the ways to fix that is to put more of the funding we receive into our schools instead of hiring more administrators at Court St or spending $15mil on a new headquarters building. If the schools have more robust budgets then we can provide better educational materials, extend the school day to allow time for more programming and have buildings that are not in disrepair also. Walk a mile in my shoes - as the parent of 3 children, one now 23, two others in middle and elementary school here, a BPS grad myself and an active parent in the system, you would be surprised at how much inequality DOES actually exist.

@ ProudIrvingMon -- I did previously say "with some exceptions" like the exam and pilot schools ………….. My main point is that the major problem in MOST Boston schools (K-12) is not lack of funding, not "poor teachers", not "failing schools"; it's the pervasiveness of student disruption. To fix the problem, administrators would have to impose discipline and stand up to the parent-enablers of chronic disrupters. This would take courage more than funding, but the #1 rule of Court Street these days is "don't upset the parents", even when their children are totally out of control ………….. If order and discipline were imposed, we'd see student achievement soar overnight. Students at the Irving School thrived under the leadership of principal Richard Maloney through the 1990's. He was one of the last old-fashioned, tough love disciplinarians in the system, unafraid to stand up to disruption and parents in denial. Most problems at the Irving started after he retired and disruption became tolerated. This story of decline is true for most Boston schools ………….. I agree with you on the latter parts of your post including the absurdity of busing for "desegregation", and the need to shift funding from highly paid downtown jobs/projects to direct student services. (And no, I'm not BPS parent, but I'm a 15-year BPS teacher).

Thanks for your comment. I want to clear up a misconception about how we fund the exam schools vs our other schools -- we hear this a lot. All of our schools fall under the "weighted student funding" formula, which allocates the same amount of money for students in all schools based on student need. Boston Latin School, for example, actually gets less money per pupil than most of our high schools do. Our system is also transparent. You can view school-by-school per-pupil allocations, as well as school-by-school budgets (and how they have changed over time), on our website at bostonpublicschools.org/budget. The bottom line is, it doesn't matter where a student chooses to attend school -- BPS will send funds "with" that student no matter where they attend, and then the school chooses how best to use those dollars.