Wu, Skipper cite progress BPS progress in 'State of Schools' speech

The Boston Public Schools have been steadily improving over the last few years, Mayor Michelle Wu and BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper told a gathering of city and school officials, elected officials and members of the public during an address at UMass Boston Monday.

Over the last 15 years the district’s ranking on standardized test scores climbed from the eighth percentile to the 21st, last year the district’s high school graduation rate hit the highest mark ever and chronic absenteeism and dropout rates have declined, Wu told the audience in the university’s student center auditorium.

“Weʼve made progress by focusing relentlessly on what works — evidence-based practices like implementing a consistent and rigorous curriculum, engaging families to improve school attendance, building partnerships to connect academics with enrichment, and measuring results to hold ourselves accountable,” Wu said.

Wu also highlighted the increase in students participating in early college enrollment and advanced placement courses as a measure of the district’s progress. She noted high schools are now offering 44 different AP subjects in 367 class sections.

“Last year, more than 4,000 BPS high schoolers took AP classes and almost 500 achieved a three or above on at least three exams — up from fewer than 200 in 2022,” she said.

Speaking to reporters following the speech, Skipper said the district’s approach to African American Studies AP courses reflects a commitment to data-driven improvement.

“Several years ago, we didn’t offer AP African American studies, and now that’s one of our number one courses in AP, because that was something we knew kids wanted, and really interested in, and 7 out of 10 of them actually got a college score,” she said. “So, where the data points us to a place to expand, because it works great, and where we feel like we need to build in something new, we’ll be doing that as well.”

Wu’s second State of the Schools address highlighting the progress the district has made in recent years comes as a well-funded school reform group launched a $1.5 million ad campaign that featured a photograph of a child and the words “BPS is failing her.” The ads referenced standardized test score results that suggest 70% of BPS third graders aren’t reading or doing math at grade level.

Speaking to reporters following her speech, Wu noted that BPS has moved from the bottom of a cohort of urban school districts defined by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

“In the last six years, we’ve been number one in that cohort with that particular metric and we continue to climb,” she said. “Our standards are not relative to others or relative to averages. We want excellence for every single student, and that comes from opportunity, that comes for supports and partnership and holding ourselves accountable.”

According to data on the DESE website, 31% of Boston third graders are meeting or exceeding expectations in English Language Arts (ELA). Statewide, that figure is 43%. Student scores across the state declined in 2016 when the commonwealth instituted its current, more rigorous test. In 2014, for example, 35% of BPS third graders met or exceeded expectations in ELA compared to 57% of students across Massachusetts.

“The gaps have narrowed, sometimes in a troubling way,” Wu said. “We all need more resources, but Boston Public Schools is really holding our own. We’re seeing momentum and progress in the right direction, and we want to accelerate.”

Boston Teachers Union (BTU) president Eric Berg said the mayor’s efforts to promote the district’s successes is important in the current climate where public schools are frequently under attack by groups seeking to privatize education. Noting the “BPS is failing her” advertisements launched earlier this month by the group MassPotential, Berg said the ads sought to “tear down public schools.”

“That is nothing other than an attempt to undermine confidence in the work our public schools do,” he said.

The mayor’s State of the Schools speech provides an important counternarrative to that movement, Berg said.

“I think the addition of the State of the Schools speech by the mayor is a welcome addition to the calendar,” he said. “There are a lot of good things happening in our schools and I think people should be aware of them.”

During her remarks, Wu frequently mentioned the district’s expansion of so-called hub schools, which provide services such as before school and after school programming.

“They direct resources to whatever a neighborhood needs,” Wu said. “Some of our hub schools run food pantries and clothing swaps. Others offer English classes for parents or bring in a mobile grocery market.”

The city is currently adding five hub schools to the 20 already operating.

The concept was introduced by BTU and negotiated through its recent contracts with the city. Berg said he was pleased BPS is expanding the program.

“Since the BTU began challenging the city to create community schools, it’s become one of the most effective strategies to help students and support families in Boston,” he said.