ARCHIVES
OF EDITORIALS
October 14, 2004
A matter of money
It is natural for caring parents to want the best possible education
for their children. This proclivity is at the heart of the present
school zone assignment controversy. Opponents of the proposed
plan assert that it unfairly restricts choice for African American
and Latino children.
While every parent wants unlimited choice, that is not always
attainable even for wealthy families. The number of available
seats in select private secondary schools and prestigious colleges
and universities is far less than the number of applicants. When
the music stops, many children from well-to-do families are left
standing.
In public secondary schools, the objective must be to have a school
system of such quality that every student will be academically
challenged at whatever school he or she attends. That is the objective
of the Boston Public Schools under the leadership of Superintendent
Thomas Payzant. He has rejected merely passing the MCAS test as
the goal for students, but established proficiency as the objective.
This is an important shift in focus. Young students tend to respond
to the challenge set before them. It might not have occurred to
many students that they have the intellectual capacity to reach
the proficiency or advanced level of attainment. In order to reach
this new goal, Superintendent Payzant will have to mobilize the
faculty and introduce new techniques.
As evidence of his commitment to proficiency, Payzant is in the
process of introducing the Efficacy Program into the schools.
Efficacy has been successful in substantially improving the level
of academic achievement in major cities across the country. Remarkably,
the process is able to achieve substantial improvement in a relatively
short time.
Other efforts to improve the schools in the past have not always
been as rewarding as the administration had hoped. According to
the standard established by the No Child Left Behind Act, some
59 Boston schools have not attained the necessary level of improvement.
It is expected that the expansion of the Efficacy approach will
remedy this problem.
As one might expect, the introduction of the Efficacy Program
will increase operating expenses in an already tight budget. Operating
funds can be increased by reducing the amount of busing. That
is one of the objectives of the proposed assignment plan. Funds
saved can then be spent on improving the quality of the schools.
After all, there is little to be gained by a child being bused
to a substandard school.
The Education Reform Act of 1993 generated a substantial increase
in state funds to finance public education. Results on the MCAS
tests since 1999 indicate that the increased expenditures have
not adequately improved performance. The Supreme Judicial Court
has begun deliberating the Hancock v. Driscoll case to determine
whether the state’s expenditure for public education in
low-income communities is constitutionally adequate.
The conflict over school choice is really a budgetary issue. Perhaps
the SJC will order that more funds be provided by the state for
Boston Public Schools. Regardless of the outcome, the quality
of public education will not improve without the active involvement
of parents and community leaders.
The community must create an intellectually stimulating environment
for the children or additional funds and school choice will be
only marginally productive.
Home
Page
