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This question has been intriguing me for quite a long time. As a Boston Latin School alumnus, I heard many stories from my teachers and older alumni of how strict my alma mater (the oldest public school in the nation for those who didn't know) was in the old days (and when I mean old days I mean before it went co-ed in 1972) but I am equally as curious to know about our historic rival Boston English, the oldest public HIGH school in the nation, during the period 1954-1972. How strict was it? How rigorous was the curriculum and what novelty courses did it offer? Also how did it lose its popularity as a school to send children to and is there any hope to revive it again?
I know this is a difficult post to reply to but I really hope to solicit thoughts from long time Bostonians and others who know this school well because I truly believe it is a Bostonian icon worth knowing about. I'd greatly appreciate it.
I can only talk about "modern-day" English High, but for what it's worth...
English started its downward trend during the mid-70's, when cross-district school busing triggered war in the streets. It'd always been a citywide open enrollment institution, but now with mutual anger and distrust between Black and White kids there were "riots" every day. To keep things more "neutral," a high-rise building was constructed for English toward the end of the Seventies, making it one of the few high schools in the country where escalators had to be taken between classes. It was in the Harvard medical area, opposite Boston Latin and not in a neighborhood that anyone claimed as their turf.
Beyond all the racial ugliness, English declined in popularity as its curriculum quality suffered in the wake of budget cuts and it was no longer seen as a viable fall-back if one didn't get into BLS or another of the "exam schools." White parents whose offspring didn't make the cut for an exam school put the kid(s) into a private or parochial institution or simply left town. The high-rise was seen as too costly to maintain (lots of escalator vandalism, to begin with) and has been torn down. English was relocated to an old Boston Gas office building near Forest Hills Station in Jamaica Plain, putting it in a decentralized location and also on "turf." Today its enrollment has shrunk drastically and is almost entirely "minority," with a dropout rate so high that it's been threatened with permanent closing. Check out the Boston Globe's Website for a series that was written about this.
From what I know of English pre-70's, it wasn't a whole lot different from BLS except that there was a lower mandatory courseload. One could take 4 years of Latin, in other words, but it wasn't required. "Tracking" meant that higher-level courses like physics and "college English" were there for those who demonstrated competency. So, while BLS was the "broad smooth path into Harvard," the Ivy League was still attainable for a few English grads as well. But between the busing turmoil and the decline in standards, all that has changed - and irreversibly, for the most part, although the school's debate team is still a point of pride.
It'd take a ton of money and a major shift in attitudes before English would have any hope of reattaining its onetime stature.
Wow! You seem to know a lot about the school. That was good info.
Yes, the plight of Boston English right now is really sad. To think that this school actually aggressively rivalled Latin in practically everything at one time and has a rich history of its own is sad. I actually read some of the Boston Globe's articles you mentioned some time ago and saw pictures of the yellow brick building it was once housed in prior to the monstrous high rise and typical students who attended it. It just seems like a different world.
You are right in that there were Boston English grads who went on to Harvard, MIT, and other good schools. I once knew a 1972 grad who went on to Princeton and is now a big attorney in Boston. Sadly, those are few and far in between nowadays. I substitute taught at the school in the recent past but curiously there aren't many people there who know about the school's past anymore. I hate to say it but that Boston Gas building it is in now is an awful building. I didn't really see it as an appropriate building to house a school, it looks really ugly from the outside and the inside is not much better, and in my opinion, a new school building ought to be constructed.
Yet your last sentence hit the point. It would take a huge amount of money to rebuild and revitalize the school and more importantly, support from the Boston community. Yet the irony is, if more newcomers are attracted to schools like English, there might be a cause to pump in more funding for the school and like schools. Too often, newcomers are told to avoid the city schools, especially ones who are able to pump money into the school, and sadly, I myself bear guilt for doing this very thing in this message board. Since the school cannot attract any dedicated students, it is forced to take whatever is left (i.e. low income or otherwise not so dedicated students who don't have a good parental background).
I also think Mayor Menino and Superintendent Johnson can do a better job advertising schools like English. I get the feeling that they are embarassed by such schools themselves and are unwilling to market them aggresively to the community. I suppose it is appropriate that they should act first before we little people do but then if they don't, what is next?
Anyways, that was a very good answer and I acquired a lot from it.
Yet your last sentence hit the point. It would take a huge amount of money to rebuild and revitalize the school and more importantly, support from the Boston community. Yet the irony is, if more newcomers are attracted to schools like English, there might be a cause to pump in more funding for the school and like schools. Too often, newcomers are told to avoid the city schools, especially ones who are able to pump money into the school, and sadly, I myself bear guilt for doing this very thing in this message board. Since the school cannot attract any dedicated students, it is forced to take whatever is left (i.e. low income or otherwise not so dedicated students who don't have a good parental background).
I also think Mayor Menino and Superintendent Johnson can do a better job advertising schools like English. I get the feeling that they are embarassed by such schools themselves and are unwilling to market them aggresively to the community. I suppose it is appropriate that they should act first before we little people do but then if they don't, what is next?
Are you saying that Boston Latin school or its teachers get more money than Boston English?
UrbanPeasant, my husband is a Latin grad and he said that after Boston Latin and Girl's Latin, the next best high school was Boston Tech, not English.
Fair enough, I won't argue with that. People have already mentioned that to me before. The thing is, Boston English was still arguably a very good school at one time but it no longer isn't. Boston Tech was chosen to be an examination school back in '72 and Boston English wasn't and I really don't know why. That is how Tech (now renamed the John D O'Bryant) remained a relatively high standards school and is clearly more sought after than English is nowadays. To me, it just is a sad sad thing that the oldest public high school in our whole nation, a 188 year old institution, is suffering from poor achievement and constantly being threatened with closure. Oughtn't it to deserve better?
Are you saying that Boston Latin school or its teachers get more money than Boston English?
Is it a matter of money or is it management?
All Boston Public Schools teachers get the same amount of hourly pay. Those who work in schools with longer hours make more money because they get paid for the extra hours. Right now, English is a "Commonwealth Pilot" school and has longer hours and so teachers get more pay there.
As to which school gets more money, that is indeed a foggy question. I know for a fact that the BPS allocates funds to each school based on the number of students they have and so if a school loses student population, they lose funds for the following year as well. Yet having attended the BPS and worked in it for so long, I too wonder if some schools like the examination schools get more funding than others. The exam schools are certainly better staffed than most other schools. Again, if you question if exam schools get preferential treatment, you have to remember what I said in my earlier post, that students who attend the exam schools for the most part come from families that care about the quality of education. They will sooner be at the mayor's doorpost protesting loudly if any significant funds get cut. Something like that actually happened a few weeks ago in downtown where a group of Boston Latin students protested about bufget cuts right on the streets.
It does seem that there is no economic equality in the Boston Public Schools right now. How come the Jeremiah Burke got entirely remodeled and Dorchester didn't? How come TechBoston Academy students are loaned laptops and Academy of Public Service students aren't? How come Boston Latin Academy students get to take books home and Madison Park students have to make do with handouts? Why is one school considered a "smarty" school and another school down the street is considered a "dummy" school? No wonder why so many people of all ethnicities want to avoid our public schools. Yet you know this cannot last forever and sooner or later, the mayor and the superintendent will have to come up with serious ways to reform our schools.
One last thing I must add, much of Boston Latin's additional supplies and extracurricular activities are funded by its alumni association and from outside donors and not by the city. BLS has one of the strongest public secondary school alumni associations and one of the biggest endowments that any public school in the nation can ever have. No, I'm not saying that it is rich, it really isn't, but it does show it has strong support from its community, something any public school needs in order to do well.
What has happened to English High is an educational tragedy. The original idea of the school was to give a good education to those who couldn't afford private school. The school's history is replete with standout graduates. Now it is barely hanging on. The school committee should return the school to its city-wide admission policy and make it an exam school with the sole goal of preparing students for college not arts and crafts.
What has happened to English High is an educational tragedy. The original idea of the school was to give a good education to those who couldn't afford private school. The school's history is replete with standout graduates. Now it is barely hanging on. The school committee should return the school to its city-wide admission policy and make it an exam school with the sole goal of preparing students for college not arts and crafts.
Boston already has 3 exam schools, not sure how a 4th would fit in. I'm not even sure what the process is of making a school and exam school since the exam in question is administered nationally. also, many would say that the pressure of getting into an exam school is high enough as it is. a good school doesn't have to be an exam school and some would be upset that by making it an exam school, it would close the door for a lot of students. you'll end up w/ a system where all the "good" schools are hard-to-get-into exam and charter schools and all the "bad" schools are regular public schools.
also, not all students are worthy of college. I don't understand this push to force all students into 4 year colleges when many of them could excel at various trades. it's one thing getting the kids into college, but a lot of them aren't fully prepared or aren't interested so soon drop out. not every can or should go to college
also, what's so wrong w/ arts in crafts? you kind of dismissed it in a negative way. I took a jewelry making class at Boston Latin Academy. "arts and crafts" as you put it, is an important part of a well rounded education and should be brushed aside for college "prep" work
Boston already has 3 exam schools, not sure how a 4th would fit in. I'm not even sure what the process is of making a school and exam school since the exam in question is administered nationally. also, many would say that the pressure of getting into an exam school is high enough as it is. a good school doesn't have to be an exam school and some would be upset that by making it an exam school, it would close the door for a lot of students. you'll end up w/ a system where all the "good" schools are hard-to-get-into exam and charter schools and all the "bad" schools are regular public schools.
also, not all students are worthy of college. I don't understand this push to force all students into 4 year colleges when many of them could excel at various trades. it's one thing getting the kids into college, but a lot of them aren't fully prepared or aren't interested so soon drop out. not every can or should go to college
also, what's so wrong w/ arts in crafts? you kind of dismissed it in a negative way. I took a jewelry making class at Boston Latin Academy. "arts and crafts" as you put it, is an important part of a well rounded education and should be brushed aside for college "prep" work
Oracle at Delphi is kind of right. I am a fourth year substitute teacher of the Boston Public Schools having worked at Boston English, Boston Latin Academy, Jeremiah Burke, Dorchester, and numerous middle schools. From my experience, the students in the districts schools for the most part HATE their schools. Many continuously tell me they are not getting a good education and really prefer to be elsewhere. These same schools are losing students by the handful year after year and several face closure due to lack of enrollment. Whereas at Latin Academy, 8 out of 10 kids love the school and believe they are getting a good education and it is PACKED. Teachers have to teach 5 classes of 25 -30 kids at BLS and BLA as opposed to 3 or 4 classes often with fewer than 25 students at the district schools. There is definitely room for a 4th college preparatory examination school and there is no better candidate than English because of its once great reputation.
When I took the entrance exam for Boston Latin back in the early 1990's, I remembered it was already very competitive and it has gotten even more competitive now to get into the 3 exam schools. I bet if BLS, BLA, and the O'Bryant had a waitlist, it would number in the hundreds and that is not including the numerous suburban families who want to send their kids to those schools but cannot due to residency requirements. What's more, independently run charter schools are choking off support for government run education and the city ought to use examination schools to counter that alternative. If they make English an examination school, it would definitely offset the city's blunderous decision not to make it back in 1972 and catapault its status upwards again. Keep in mind, English ought not to be treated like any ordinary school as it is now because it is the oldest public high school in the nation and an icon of Boston just like Fenway Park.
I am not against arts and crafts, in fact I wish that Boston Latin had offered courses like Home Economics that are practical to balance its college preparatory classics curriculum. It is no use however, in saying that making one more exam school will make regular district schools "bad" schools, believe me, most of them are already bad schools.
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Educational tragedy
