BPI issues new report on DESE intervention in BPS as June 2025 deadline looms
Education expert Dr. Kerry Donahue authored 'Beyond Small Fixes,' an in-depth look at why the state intervened, BPS' performance, and recommended next steps
Boston Policy Institute, Inc released a new report on DESE’s intervention into Boston Public Schools (BPS) almost 5 years to the day since the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the first of two agreements between BPS and Massachusetts’ Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE), went into effect in March 2020.
The report was authored by Dr. Kerry Donahue, an expert on education policy who most recently served as the Chief Strategy Officer for the Boston Schools Fund. The report examines what led to the 2020 MOU, how BPS performed on that agreement and the superseding June 2022 agreement that prevented state receivership, and recommends next steps as the current BPS-DESE agreement ends in June 2025.
The most important elements of Dr. Donahue’s report are the key findings and the recommendation for what should come next when the current agreement between BPS & DESE expires in June 2025 - both of these graphics are from the slide deck, the first is p. 12 and the second is p. 20:
For more on the report, check out this video. BPI’s Executive Directory Gregory Maynard hosted a press conference where Dr. Donahue presented the report and answered questions from journalists - subscribe to BPI’s YouTube channel:
This report has major implications beyond whether or not to continue state intervention in Boston Public Schools. The research and findings from this report are applicable to other public conversations about education policy in Massachusetts, and even nationally:
The decade long decline in Boston’s test scores is also happening in MA & across the country;
DESE is going through an extended leadership transition, with the last permanent DESE commissioner stepping down in March 2024, interim DESE Commissioner Russell Johnston announing he was leaving his post in February 2025, and the unusual decision earlier this week to appoint Massachusetts Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiller as the new interim DESE commissioner;
Beacon Hill is engaged in a number of education policy debates that will likely see legislative or executive branch action in 2025, including post-MCAS high school graduation requirements, changes to vocational & technical high schools admissions, and possible changes to school funding formula in the wake of increased inflation.
Find out more from Boston Policy Institute in the coming weeks and months as these state and local processes proceed by signing up for our newsletter.
THIS WEEK’S REPORT BUILDS ON ANALYSIS PRODUCED BY EDUCATION EXPERT ERIN COOLEY FOR BPI THROUGHOUT 2024 - READ IT HERE:
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