School committee

As I read Lou Murray’s commentary concerning both the Boston School Committee and questionable equity curricula in the classrooms of our city schools (“Pick me for the Boston School Committee, Mayor Wu,” Boston Herald, Dec. 4), I thought the last thing we need is our new mayor or any mayor going forward selecting who sits on the appointed school committee.

Did you know that the City of Boston is the only municipality that has a mayoral appointed school board?

Perhaps, Mr. Murray would be a good addition to the current unelected school board. However, I do not want the city mayor to make these choices for me when I am fully capable of picking those who represent me on government boards like city council and school committees, too.

Let the people choose. let parents choose. Let the taxpayers choose. The whole purpose of having an appointed school board was to keep politics out of education but we have seen how badly that idea has failed so many children for decades now.

Parents for too long have had so little say in the education their children get in the city’s classrooms. Why do our bureaucrats and electeds fear giving parents a real say in the city’s public schools?

The most important role of municipal government must be providing good public education for all pupils because without properly educating the leaders of tomorrow in our public schools today, our future will surely be bleak.

Bring back the elected school board in the City of Boston.

I encourage folks like Lou Murray or anyone else to run for office. Give the people back its franchise to freely select their own voices. Here in the Cradle of Liberty, the least our politicians can do is give us back our vote. Is that really too much to ask for?

— Sal Giarratani, East Boston