A controversy is brewing over a nonprofit’s $1.5 million campaign that posted ads on MBTA subway cars blasting Boston’s public schools, after the T yanked the ads abruptly on Thursday.
The T said the ads violated a policy in its advertising guidelines. But they were removed the day after the Globe asked questions about them, and now the campaign organizers are accusing the T of censorship.
The ads, which carried the slogan “BPS IS FAILING HER” superimposed on an image of a child’s eyes, cited state data reporting that most of Boston’s third-graders are below grade level in math and reading.
“We can fix it, together,” the ads read.
A Globe reporter spotted the ad Wednesday night on a Red Line train. After receiving inquires about their origin, an MBTA spokesperson responded the next day that they were being removed from the T’s Orange and Red Line cars.
“These ads do not comply with the MBTA’s advertising guidelines and were placed in the system by our advertising contractor without the required MBTA review prior,” Maya Bingaman, a T spokesperson, said in an email Thursday.
The Globe sent an initial inquiry about the ads to the T on Wednesday evening, and a follow-up around midday Thursday. After not receiving a response, the Globe sent a text message to a T spokesperson, which included a photograph of one of the ads displayed in a Red Line car.
The Globe also contacted the offices of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper on Thursday afternoon but did not immediately receive a response.
After those inquiries, a T spokesperson responded to say the ads were being taken down as of late Thursday afternoon. The spokesperson followed up with a copy of the T’s “Guidelines Regulating MBTA Advertising,” but would not say what specific provision the ads violated.
Local education advocate Mary Tamer, one of the leaders of the group that organized the ads, described the move as censorship.
On Friday night, another T spokesperson gave a reason for the removal: Generally, “the MBTA does not accept political advertisements or issue advocacy or endorsements,” the T’s Lisa Battiston, said.
Outfront Media, which handles booking for ads on the T, did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Veronica Yoo, a Wu spokesperson, said in a statement late Friday that neither the city nor BPS has had any communication with the MBTA regarding its decisions to either place or remove the ads.
She criticized the nonprofit for spending money on advertising to attack Boston’s schools.
“If its funders are serious about supporting Boston students, those resources would be far better invested directly in the educational opportunities and resources our kids deserve — and that our families, educators, and school communities are fighting to deliver everyday,” Yoo said.
Meanwhile, BPS spokesperson Sujata Wycoff said school administrators were aware of the ads.
“Our focus remains on improving the education for all of our students and ensuring each student is prepared for success beyond the classroom,” Wycoff said in a statement.
The nonprofit group, led by local education advocates Tamer and Vernee Wilkinson, calls itself Next Chapter Boston. Tamer declined to reveal a list of donors to their organization — including an unnamed out-of-state foundation. About seven or eight donors contributed $1.5 million, Tamer said. She named two: local philanthropists Rick Burnes and Michael Champa.
Tamer, a former Boston School Committee member appointed by former mayor Thomas Menino, declined to say what foundation supported the nonprofit because it operates anonymously. She said the foundation donates millions of dollars to causes and asks recipients to not disclose who they are.
Champa, a retired technology entrepreneur who has served as a Dana-Farber trustee, said in a brief interview that he supported the campaign because he’s concerned about the quality of Boston’s schools.
“Massachusetts has always prided itself as having one of the best education systems in the country, but when seven of 10 kids in the city of Boston can’t read at grade level, that borders on a crisis,” Champa said. “Boston educators and the mayor have to acknowledge that there’s a significant problem, and then put a plan together to fix it.”
Burnes, a founder of Charles River Ventures, has been a prolific donor to candidates and political causes, including $60,000 to the Coalition for Healthy Democracy, which is working to eliminate the state’s current party primary system.
In 2024, Burnes donated $100,000 to a group that opposed a ballot question asking voters to eliminate MCAS as a high school graduation requirement, state records show.
Burnes did not respond to an interview request.
Tamer said the ads were created by an out-of-state agency and the children in the photographs do not attend Boston Public Schools.
In a statement, Lea Serena, the executive vice president of the Boston Teachers Union, criticized the campaign. The challenges facing Boston aren’t unique, as test scores across the country and the world have declined since before the pandemic, Serena said.
“Perhaps if they really want to help local students, this group should funnel the money they’re putting into subway ads toward restoring the funds that the Trump administration has taken away from public school students,” Serena said.
But the public won’t get to see the ads donors paid for on the T, at least not right away.
Tamer said the T granted approval for the ads weeks ago. She shared a screenshot sent by an Outfront Media employee that appeared to confirm the ads were in place on Thursday morning.
“Why is telling the truth about the poor outcomes in the BPS against the standards of the MBTA? This is a poor reflection on honesty and transparency in government and an attempt to squash a needed call to action for improvement,” Tamer said. “This effort is about one clear goal: to see significant academic gains in student outcomes in the Boston Public Schools.”
The nonprofit has already taken to publicizing data it says shows the Boston Public Schools’ academic shortcomings online, on its website.
The district spent about $34,000 per student in 2024, the most recent state data available. But it serves some of the most vulnerable children in Massachusetts. Most BPS students are classified as high needs, including kids who are low income, are learning English as a second language, or have disabilities, according to the state.
The school system, which is the largest in Massachusetts, ranks in the bottom third of MCAS scores in grades 3 to 8 for school districts, according to state data.
Its most recent test scores, released by the state last week, showed that 29 percent of students in grades 3 to 8 met or exceeded expectations in English and math, while one-third of 10th graders met that standard.
Those figures are below statewide statistics for both groups of students. But Boston’s results are reflective of an overall decline in student achievement across the state since before the pandemic, test scores show, and indicate that students largely haven’t improved much since last year.
There were some highlights. Boston officials, in a press release, pointed to a rise in math scores in grades 6 and 8 and an uptick on the 8th-grade science exam.
But Tamer and Wilkinson said that Wu, Skipper, and the city’s School Committee are not spending enough time talking about students’ poor academic outcomes, nor what they intend to do to improve them.
“This is the conversation that needs to happen, because you can’t change a problem until you acknowledge its existence,” Tamer said.
Marcela Rodrigues of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com or on Signal at john_hilliard.70. Follow him on Bluesky at iamjohnhilliard.bsky.social.