Fixing Boston Schools

This is interesting commentary, but don't forget that Sam Yoon has been talking about this for months. Flaherty is a Johnny Come Lateley to this issue - flip flopping from 5 zone plan to the 3 zone plan. As for Menino, what's he going to do in the next four years that he has not done in the last sixteen? Yoon's ideas are the most innovative ... they do more with far less resources. That's the kind of new ideas and fresh leadership that our schools and our city need.

I would have to agree with Councilor Yoon that rewarding charter-schools that are actually producing results is the way to go. Too many students in this city are suffering in schools where there is no expectation of performance beyond the status quo. If, as a student, no one believes you can achieve much, what's the likelihood that you'll go above and beyond to excel?  If these high-performing charter schools are demanding excellence from their students, and seeing success, why not increase the number of students that can attend those schools? "Smart Caps" seem like a pretty smart idea to me!

As a resident of the South End, I was pleased to read about Sam Yoon's education plan last week in the South End News.  Smart caps, partnerships with colleges and universities, a hybrid school committee--these are Sam Yoon's ideas.  This is the kind fo fresh and innovative thinking that I want to see from my mayor.  It's nice that the election season has forced Flaherty and Menino to join the party and start thinking about the future of our education system, but Sam Yoon is a leader in advocating for our children.

It's not the union that's holding the Boston Public Schools back; it's a commitment to public education. Charters, touted by mayoral candidates, who can be expected to oversimplify, and journalists, who should know better, do not have the same mission as district public schools.The Boston Public Schools serve a student body that includes 20% special needs students and 20% English Language Learners.  72% of BPS students receive free and reduced lunch.  Compare those numbers to any charter school in Boston, and you'll understand immediately how charters "succeed."  (you can find their data at http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/ )  The great innovation that charter schools bring is pumping up their test scores by not serving the students who will score the lowest.  The Boston Public Schools will never be able to compete because they are true public schools, required by law to serve every student who walks in the door and unable to "counsel out" those students who prove difficult to educate. Perhaps there's a role for boutique public schools with a vastly different mission than real public education.  But let's debate this honestly and recognize charters as a parasitic organism on the body of the public schools and not an innovative alternative.
Your editorial is full of the same mindless union-bashing and charter-praising that journalists have been doing for years. Perhaps you're not very well suited to judge innovative ideas in education.