Why is BPS so bad and what should be done to improve it? (Boston: school districts, live)

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Maybe METCO hasn't been helpful ? Perhaps BPS should keep their best and brightest students instead of shipping them off to schools in the suburbs.

Those families would move to Stoughton, Dedham, Norwood, Avon, Taunton, Malden, Everett and Quincy overnight.

METCO is what keeps them in Boston. I'm a friend with countless METCO (and SteppingStone) grads. Overwhelmingly they're middle-class black people (a la Kim Janey and Tito Jackson, METCO grads) who stay in Boston for social/political/cultural reasons. They're savvy and stop by Warren Street and put their kids on the METCO waiting list at birth. After a few years in BPS, they enter METCOat age 7-9 and ride it out.

[msRB311]

I guess I dont understand what else you want BPS to do then?

Unfortunately it's sometimes the people...it's not like BPS is a company where you can just fire the people attending as you would employees and get new ones. BPS ends up with who they end up with. It also seems like the they hire good teachers and have good people in leadership positions.

There's something that isn't motivating the students.

[bigfatdude]

Well that's very interesting - if black students can have their METCO that no one else can have, why shouldn't nonblack students have a shot at BLS without getting zipcoded out? Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi?

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Those families would move to Stoughton, Dedham, Norwood, Avon, Taunton, Malden, Everett and Quincy overnight.

METCO is what keeps them in Boston. I'm a friend with countless METCO (and SteppingStone) grads. Overwhelmingly they're middle-class black people (a la Kim Janey and Tito Jackson, METCO grads) who stay in Boston for social/political/cultural reasons. They're savvy and stop by Warren Street and put their kids on the METCO waiting list at birth. After a few years in BPS, they enter METCOat age 7-9 and ride it out.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by bigfatdude

Well that's very interesting - if black students can have their METCO that no one else can have, why shouldn't nonblack students have a shot at BLS without getting zipcoded out? Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi?

Well, I know Latinos are in METCO but ultimately I think that up to the suburban district discretion. One of the reasons they wanted METCO was explicitly for racial diversity, don't know if they explicitly want economic diversity-not that there's a ton of poor white students in Boston. Maybe 2-3000.

I don't personally think METCO should be racially restricted. A racial mix representative of the children of Boston should be aimed for. But it I feel like sort of became a thing black folks were given.

[msRB311]

Are Asian people in METCO?

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I guess I dont understand what else you want BPS to do then?

Unfortunately it's sometimes the people...it's not like BPS is a company where you can just fire the people attending as you would employees and get new ones. BPS ends up with who they end up with. It also seems like the they hire good teachers and have good people in leadership positions.

There's something that isn't motivating the students.

This isn't my thread, don't ask me. I'm just stating some facts and some of my perceptions.

But if you are asking me..

I think making BLS, BLA, and O'Bryant all equal is one big step.. you get into one, you get into any of them, and are randomly assigned. Don't further tier the schools.

^BLS far outperforms BLA and O'Bryant in terms of APS with each junior/senior at BLA passing 2.6 APs, compared to .73 passed APs at BLA, and .71 passed APs at O'Bryant. The latter are good schools comparable to solid suburban schools but still a tier below BLS as of now. Compared to the Burke where students ~250 students passed 9 out of 402 APS taken...

I'd like to see larger 7-12 high schools, more pilot schools. Universal Pre-K, Universal Breakfast. Later start times for high school (8:30-9:00AM). More unified start times in general.

[msRB311]

I know it's not your thread but I think you said the city of boston has failed it's children.

I honestly think many of the kids of the city of boston have been failed by their parents or their peers that live around them. Not the schools. And that happens in places other than Boston as well. It's time to stop blaming it on low income as well. Low incomes arent going away...they're only going to get worse as the middle class is phased out.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

This isn't my thread, don't ask me. I'm just stating some facts and some of my perceptions.

But if you are asking me..

I think making BLS, BLA, and O'Bryant all equal is one big step.. you get into one, you get into any of them, and are randomly assigned. Don't further tier the schools.

^BLS far outperforms BLA and O'Bryant in terms of APS with each junior/senior at BLA passing 2.6 APs, compared to .73 passed APs at BLA, and .71 passed APs at O'Bryant. The latter are good schools comparable to solid suburban schools but still a tier below BLS as of now. Compared to the Burke where students ~250 students passed 9 out of 402 APS taken...

I'd like to see larger 7-12 high schools, more pilot schools. Universal Pre-K, Universal Breakfast. Later start times for high school (8:30-9:00AM). More unified start times in general.

What does making all 3 equal accomplish? You'd still be sucking the same number of "good students" from the rest of the system.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Are Asian people in METCO?

Yes

In 2007: Metco students were about 72 percent are black, 17 percent are Latino and 7 percent are Asian.

Beginning in 1996 the state ramping up recruitment of Asian and Latino METCO students. This was hastened by the City in 2017. It's also open to Native Americans, just not whites.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by massnative71

What does making all 3 equal accomplish? You'd still be sucking the same number of "good students" from the rest of the system.

True, but if the issue pols want to focus on is "racial equity/balance at BLS" then that would remedy that and maybe we could move on to more pressing issues and stop dwelling on this ad infinitum. Not sure itd work just a thought.