Boston Public Schools (Cambridge, Brookline, Arlington: club, safety, budget)

[floresmoses]

Does anyone have info on what the Boston Public Schools are like? Any teachers have any advice?

[LovelyBoston]

Are you looking for information and advice as a prospective teacher, or as a parent enrolling children in the system? Because those are so very different and I'd have much different things to say.

For parents: the schools are very, very troubled. MCAS scores are bad, graduation rates are low, drop out rates are high, there are safety issues in the schools and constant budget pressures. Old books, old buildings. On the positive side, you do have school choice, there are a number of charter schools -- although many of charters perform just as poorly as the regular public schools, a couple are real standouts (Boston Collegiate Charter) -- and at the secondary level, there are a couple of fantastic exam schools (such as Boston Latin, which is comparable to the best districts in the state), and specialty schools (O'Bryant School of Math and Science) that are really, really outstanding. If you can get into those, wonderful. But it's very hard, obviously, because so many parents want their children going to these schools.

For teachers: pay is quite good compared to other districts, but the reason for this is the difficult conditions. Most facilities are not very good, and supplies are short. And having to walk through metal detectors every day to get to work can get depressing. This is one of the more difficult districts to teach in. And I have heard -- but this is not first hand -- that the administration can be removed and difficult to work with. Burnout is high. But for teachers who really feel strongly about "giving back," this is certainly a good place to work.

[floresmoses]

Thanks,
My wife and I are both teachers, and had heard some good things and some bad things about BPS.
Do you have any info about what public schools are like in Arlington, Brookline, Cambridge? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[LovelyBoston]

Cambridge is pretty close to Boston in terms of work conditions and student population. A lot of the same issues with safety and performance.

Arlington and Brookline are both much higher-performing schools -- they are more affluent areas (Brookline especially) so even though they are close to the city, they are not city schools -- a whole different work environment, and in terms of student performance, districts I'd be happy to have my kids in. Brookline is somewhat better in terms of MCAS performance in the lower grades, for whatever that's worth.

But I don't personally know any teachers in either district, so I don't know what those districts are like in terms of administration.

[smarty]

Originally Posted by floresmoses

Thanks,
My wife and I are both teachers, and had heard some good things and some bad things about BPS.
Do you have any info about what public schools are like in Arlington, Brookline, Cambridge? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

There are good and bad things in every school systems. There are exam schools where only top kids can get into. They scores better than most sub-urban schools. I suggest you look at the Boston school website.
However, in general, teachers are facing more social issues in cities than in suburbs. Resources are limited. Usually taken mostly by mandate that are not funded.

There are towns' school website and MA Department of education website for reference. Not sure what you are looking for.

[floresmoses]

Thanks Smarty,
We are trying to find out if we want to teach in BPS or go a little outside the city. My wife is elementary, and I am High school history/social studies. Do you know if the BPS has sports teams at their schools, or are they private club teams? I ask because I am a baseball coach, and would like to continue coaching. Thanks for all of your input!

[LovelyBoston]

Originally Posted by floresmoses

Thanks Smarty,
We are trying to find out if we want to teach in BPS or go a little outside the city. My wife is elementary, and I am High school history/social studies. Do you know if the BPS has sports teams at their schools, or are they private club teams? I ask because I am a baseball coach, and would like to continue coaching. Thanks for all of your input!

Oddly enough, as much as Boston is desperate for teachers, it can be quite hard to get hired there -- the system is big enough that there seems to be quite a lot of red tape, and they have a strange online personality test that is, I think, bizarre: you have to apply online, then they send you a link for this test. It's multiple choice, and some of it is just hard to answer -- the kind of hard where you feel no answer explains how you'd react, but you have to choose one, or where your answer would depend on the specifics of the situation, yet the question is very vague. It allows for no nuance, that personality test. My hubby took it and was not impressed that this was how the Boston district decided to screen applicants.

Just an FYI. Go to www dot bostonpublicschools dot org -- they have job listings and school profiles there.

[smarty]

Originally Posted by floresmoses

Thanks Smarty,
We are trying to find out if we want to teach in BPS or go a little outside the city. My wife is elementary, and I am High school history/social studies. Do you know if the BPS has sports teams at their schools, or are they private club teams? I ask because I am a baseball coach, and would like to continue coaching. Thanks for all of your input!

Yes. There are sports teams in the high schools. However, I am not sure about which school has which sport. I know many has football, hockey, track and soccer. Not sure about baseball. Again, it is one of those budget items. Most suburban high schools now require students to pay a fee to play. $100-500 per sport depending on town or sports.