Wins and losses in $1.5B BPS budget
The Boston School Committee’s $1.5 billion BPS budget may have been backed 5-2, but the teachers’ union is calling out flaws.
The Boston Teachers Union released a statement on the budget yesterday, stating cuts that take “needed service, opportunity, or support away from our students is a serious concern to our union.”
“We urge full transparency on any positions impacted by proposed cuts, and will continue advocating for robust funding of our schools at the federal and state levels in addition to the municipal funding currently filling those gaps,” the BTU said.
The FY 2025 budget has been heralded by BPS leadership as a “transitional” and “transformational” year. It marks the end of millions in federal COVID-era ESSER funding, the launch of a sweeping inclusive education plan, and initial steps away from the district’s long-held per-pupil funding model to a more targeted “value-based” funding mechanism.
“If we truly want to improve student outcomes … we must carefully and deliberately build the foundation of a district that meets the unique needs of every student in every school,” said Superintendent Mary Skipper.
Skipper noted that the city’s $81 million investment in the budget — a 45% increase — puts the district in a better position than other city’s “facing much tougher budgets” in the wake of ESSER and allows for the support
of school maintenance and priority investments like inclusive education, universal pre-K and early college and career programs.
Despite funding offset from the city, the budget also includes a controversial swath of staffing and programming
cuts called out by parents and educators through the process.
Committee members Brandon Cardet-Hernandez and Stephen Alkins voted against the budget, citing concerns about the budget falling short of “bold” or “aggressive transformative change” the district needs but said they continue to be “allies” as the budget’s initiatives move forward.
Others, including members Rafaela Polanco Garcia and Quoc Tran, emphasized “serious concerns” and the need for oversight as the new inclusion plan rolls out, particularly for multilingual learners.
“To be very frank, I see regurgitation of ideas and projects and initiatives I have seen in the past that failed, but who knows, the current climate of the society may alter these plans and may make them better — I don’t know,” said Tran.
Parents, educators and school community members have also been critical of the inclusive education plan, along with program and staffing cuts and transparency and outreach throughout the budget process itself.
School budget breakdowns showed a net staffing loss of about 480 positions, or 4% of district-funded positions. Well over half of the 119 schools in BPS will lose staff.
The largest staffing losses within administrators with about 90 positions cut; bilingual education and instructional aides with about 210 positions cut; and bilingual, kindergarten, general education and specialist teachers with nearly 340 positions cut. Other jobs including support, food service and part-time positions also saw net losses.
Supporting inclusive education plans, the budget adds about 220 special education teachers and 140 special education aides.