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The Great Divide

Race, class, and opportunity in our schools

Students with disabilities are often left out of Boston’s popular dual language programs

Bilingual special education experts say this underrepresentation is more than a missed opportunity — it’s discrimination.
Estudiantes con discapacidades a menudo son excluidos de populares programas de lenguaje dual

Boston now spends more per student than any other large school district in the nation

Yet for all the money BPS is spending, many education advocates, parents, and students are bewildered at how little the district generally has to show for it.

Massachusetts spends thousands more on school construction aid for white students than for students of color

Massachusetts took aggressive steps two decades ago to rein in school construction spending, but the effort has led to substantially more aid going to white students on a per pupil basis than to Latino and Black students.

While student chronic absenteeism numbers remain high, Boston and Mass. show signs of recovery

Through March of this year, those who were chronically absent in BPS fell five percentage points to 37.2 percent, meaning about 2,300 more students regularly showed up for school.

Boston School Committee votes to approve controversial elementary school mergers

The committee voted 6-0, with one member absent, Wednesday night to approve separate plans to merge Dorchester’s Shaw and Mattapan's Taylor schools in September 2024, and Roslindale’s Sumner and Philbrick schools in September 2025.

Cambridge to launch free public preschool for all 4-year-olds, some 3-year-olds

Cambridge joins other cities, such as Boston and Springfield, in making free prekindergarten accessible for all children.

Boston Public Schools’ improper billing practice wasted $25,000, opened avenues for potential corruption, city finds

The missteps by BPS amounted to a “breach of policy, procedures, and public trust,” the report said.

After a single word — ‘ladies’ — brought Easthampton into the limelight, residents crave normalcy

Boston Public Schools nearing agreement with city police to formalize relationship

Wellesley teachers union ratifies new contract, after school committee raised concerns about a potential strike

Visit our archive of all stories from The Great Divide team

Enrollment

A mother's journey, helping families navigate BPS and protecting her own from it

Boston schools lost 15,000 Black students in the past 20 years. Where did they go, and will they ever return?

In a dramatic reshaping of its makeup, Boston Public Schools has lost half its Black student population in the last two decades, as Black enrollment fell from from 29,300 in the 2002-2003 school year to 14,600 last year.

In Woburn, a diversifying school district works to become more welcoming
For Kafui Kemeh, a Black high school senior in Woburn, life in the suburbs has brought the quality education her family sought, but the isolation and racism she has experienced as one of the very few Black students in her classes weigh on her.

Boston Public Schools routinely overestimates future enrollment. Here’s why it matters.
The district has put off hard decisions to close schools, even though it knew it already had excess space.

GPA issue just latest in series of exam school admissions errors parents have noticed this year

The district hired auditors to avoid the incorrect admissions decisions it had in 2019 and 2020: Ernst & Young last year, and the local consultant firm Borderland Partners this year. But it was parents, not the auditor, that caught the mistakes.

BPS brings back Ernst & Young for exam school admissions after GPA error

The district employed Ernst & Young last year for the first year of a complex new admission process, and no known errors came to light under the global accounting firm’s watch.
Dozens of BPS students were wrongly informed about their exam school eligibility. What went wrong?

A Maine mother’s lawsuit over her child’s gender transition highlights tension between student protections and parental rights

Amber Lavigne’s suit is the latest legal challenge in New England over schools’ ability to protect the privacy and safety of transgender and gender-nonconforming students and their parents’ right to know.

BPS shares detail on mergers as they plan for future closures

District leaders Wednesday reiterated to the School Committee the plan to merge Dorchester and Mattapan’s Shaw and Taylor schools in September 2024 and Roslindale’s Sumner and Philbrick schools in September 2025.

Easthampton School Committee to seek interim superintendent after failed search

The School Committee will seek out a one-year interim superintendent, instead of going through the process of selecting a third finalist after controversies involving the first two candidates selected for the job.
Easthampton School Committee votes to offer superintendent job to another candidate after ‘ladies’ comment

New poll finds three-quarters of BPS parents support police, metal detectors in schools

Support for both metal detectors and police was found across all racial and ethnic groups, ranging from 60 percent of white parents supporting school police to 85 percent of Latino parents.
Boston Public Schools quietly negotiating with city police to formalize relationship

BPS miscalculated GPAs, wrongly informing students of their exam school eligibility

New eligibility notices will go out this week after dozens who met criteria to apply for an exam school slot were told they weren't eligible and others were wrongly told they were.

More school coverage

Wu, Skipper propose big changes to BPS high schools

The mayor and superintendent proposed expanding Madison Park Technical Vocational High School and moving the O’Bryant School of Math and Science, Boston's most diverse exam school, to predominantly white West Roxbury.

Westwood High School seniors bid farewell to alma maters

Westwood seniors boarded school buses for a farewell tour of the district's five elementary schools — two of which are permanently closing next year — for the last time before graduating.

Somerville elementary school closed Friday after concrete falls in stairwell

Structural engineers are investigating whether the Winter Hill Community Innovation School building is safe for students and teachers after concrete fell onto a stairwell this week, according to city officials.

Pellet gun confiscated from student at King Elementary School in Dorchester, officials said

A pellet gun was recovered from a student at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. elementary school in Dorchester Thursday morning, according to Boston Public Schools. No students or staff were harmed during the incident.

Estudiantes con discapacidades a menudo son excluidos de populares programas de lenguaje dual

Más de 14.600 estudiantes de BPS son aprendices de inglés. Uno de cada cuatro tiene una discapacidad. Sin embargo, solo el 6 por ciento asisten a una escuela bilingüe.

Students with disabilities are often left out of Boston’s popular dual language programs

Bilingual special education experts say this underrepresentation is more than a missed opportunity — it’s discrimination.

Two Massachusetts children compete in National Spelling Bee

A pair of students from Massachusetts are competing in this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, testing their acumen against more than 200 other kids from around the country and the globe, according to the contest’s official website.

Featured Stories

A look into how AP African-American Studies is taught at a Cambridge school

‘Asians are an afterthought’: Asian American students at BPS report feeling less safe, more undervalued

She helped kids and teachers solve problems. Can she do the same for Boston Public Schools?

In Mattapan’s Haitian Creole program, a taste of the bilingual education BPS wants to expand

Once underperforming, East Boston High School made gains through the pandemic. Can BPS replicate the success?

Here’s why Boston doesn’t have an elected school committee

Inside the forgotten story of the Chinatown mothers who mobilized during the Boston busing crisis

‘That looks like what I eat at home’: City Fresh Foods makes meals for BPS students, by Bostonians

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May 31: State spends thousands more on school construction aid for white students than for students of colorMay 24: While student chronic absenteeism numbers remain high, Boston and Mass. show signs of recoveryMay 17: Boston Public Schools’ improper billing practice

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Past virtual events

The Great Divide hosted a series of virtual events, with an emphasis on student voices, during the pandemic. Watch some of our past events:
All in this together? How to minimize harm in reopening schoolsGlobeDocs presents: 'My voice matters': Brighton Debate en Español teamThe Digital Divide: Education, Race and Virtual LearningGreat Divide Town Hall: What will it take for you to feel safe when schools reopen?

About The Great Divide

The Great Divide is a reporting effort dedicated to investigating race, class, and inequality in Boston-area schools. It is jointly funded by the Globe and the Barr Foundation, a Boston-based foundation that has prioritized student success in high school and beyond. The Globe maintains editorial control and independence over the project.

Academics and Learning

MCAS scores for schools across the state

Boston hit an all-time graduation high in 2022, but can the rate be trusted?

Massachusetts students saw an uptick in graduation rates after the MCAS exams were canceled due to the pandemic. But Boston’s graduation rates remain unreliable after being faulted for wrongly removing students from would-be graduating classes.
Fewer Boston high school graduates are enrolling in college, while completion rates stagnate

Massachusetts students hit 19-year low on national reading, math exams

Massachusetts is no longer top of the class on national report card, falling behind Wyoming in fourth grade math and New Jersey in eighth grade reading.
2022 MCAS scores show slow progress in student academic performance

Nation’s Report Card spells out urgency for local, state leaders to address learning losses
Reading and math scores fell district, state, and nationwide in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, made public Monday. State and district leaders said the scores reinforce the need to work quickly to catch students up.

Key things that schools can do to fight learning loss, according to experts

Equity and Access

‘The Mary Lyon way’: A Boston inclusion school’s successful approach to re-engagement

The full-inclusion school in the Boston system could have fallen apart during the pandemic. Here’s why it soared instead.

‘I feel like I’m on an even playing field with everybody else’: BDEA 2.0 takes emancipatory approach to educating most vulnerable students
The program, founded in 2018, was designed to help more Black and Latino male students graduate, though a handful of female students also are finding success through it.

New admission process may give more disadvantaged students a shot at Metco
The changes come amid growing efforts in Boston and around the nation to reshape admission processes for public school programs to ensure disadvantaged students have a fair chance against those from more affluent families.

US Court of Appeals takes up Boston exam school case

Race and Diversity

Wayland School Committee appoints new acting district leader, finalizing replacement of Superintendent Omar Easy

The School Committee will simultaneously continue to pay Superintendent Omar Easy, who has alleged he was the victim of racism, to stay home on administrative leave until his contract expires June 30, 2024.
‘This has been devastating’: Wayland is divided over racism allegations after Black superintendent is placed on leave

Everett superintendent files suit against mayor, School Committee, alleging racism, sexism, and retaliation
Everett Superintendent Priya Tahiliani filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Mayor Carlo DeMaria and several other School Committee members accusing them of racism and discrimination after they voted two weeks prior not to renew her contract.

Everett School Committee won’t renew contract of superintendent who accused mayor of racism

Black male teachers can make a big difference in the lives of their students — why are they so rare?
Statewide, just 1 percent of public school teachers are Black men. Even in Boston, which has the highest number of Black male educators, the proportion is just 7 percent.

Debate emerging on Beacon Hill over bill that would limit job security for veteran teachers to preserve educator diversity

Money and Facilities

Boston School Committee approves budget, school building, bus contract at contentious meeting

Boston school officials voted Wednesday night on a slate of high-profile items with reverberations for years to come as the district tries to turn itself around.
BPS leaders unveil $1.4 billion budget, an increase of $65 million. Here’s how they’ll spend it.

Key things to know about the Green New Deal for Boston Public Schools

The Green New Deal for BPS would greatly accelerate the pace of construction in a school system that has built fewer than a dozen new schools over the last 40 years, and where some buildings date to the 1800s.

Digital hall passes: ‘Bathroom Big Brother’ or solution to antsy students?
The technology — which tracks how often and how long students are out of class — has been touted as a remedy to bad bathroom behavior by some and labeled an invasion of privacy by others.