Boston public school parents and advocates fed up with the lack of transparency in the search for a new superintendent say they’d like to see Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s appointed School Committee replaced with an elected one that would be more accountable to the public.
“This current process of trying to choose a new superintendent for Boston Public Schools is yet another illustration of how an appointed school committee is often not accountable and responsible for the needs of the community and not as transparent and inclusive as a lot of people want it to be,” said Lisa Guisbond, executive director of the Boston-based Citizens for Public Schools.
Lisa Green of the Boston Coalition for Education Equity said the search process “feels especially like it’s just pushing parent voices aside … like the current Boston Public Schools governance system is just designed to neutralize the voice of the community it’s supposed to be serving. That is why I feel like this is a perfect example of another case study for why we need an elected School Committee.”
The School Committee’s seven members have been appointed and controlled entirely by the mayor since 1992, when the City Council and the Legislature voted to end the elections in a move intended to improve the beleaguered school system.
But parents have been highly critical of Walsh’s latest search — which was forced by his ouster last year of his first superintendent, Tommy Chang — telling the Herald they want a bigger role in the process. This search drew only 39 candidates — roughly half as many at the last search in 2014 — and produced only three finalists, none of whom have previously led urban districts.
School Committee Chairman Michael Loconto bristled at the parents’ complaints, saying, “This assertion that there aren’t any parents that are getting involved in the search is nonsense.”
Loconto, referring a reporter to the Boston Public Schools website, insisted there are 11 members on the selection committee, four of whom are BPS parents. The site, however, lists 10 members and three BPS parents, which Loconto acknowledged after that was pointed out to him.
“We’re trying to be as open and cross-collaborative as possible,” said Loconto. “We need this community to unite around the leadership in this district going forward.”
But Gloria West, a BPS parent, said that the selection committee’s parent members are “handpicked” and that the appointed School Committee “limits my voice.”
“I’ve been battling this whole process and how transparent this whole process has been, and once again who is left out of the equation — the parents,” said West.
Walsh said in a statement Friday, “I am not and will not be satisfied until we can ensure a high-quality education for every child in Boston, but an elected School Committee is not the answer to the challenges we face, and would be a disservice to our children and a distraction to the work that remains.”
Boston is the only school district in the state with a committee fully appointed by the mayor, said Glenn Koocher of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees.
The “vast majority of districts around the country have elected school boards,” said Larry Eichel, project director for The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia research initiative. “The exceptions, we’ve found, tend to be in older, East Coast or Midwestern cities.”
Eichel said, “If the mayor appoints the board members, then he’s accountable.”
But Koocher said, “This is a democracy and people believe that their elected officials would be preferable to appointed officials.”
