Superintendent Johnson to adopt school assignment panel recommendation to create school quality panel

Panel to work in collaboration with the district to accelerate achievement in all schools

BOSTON – Boston Public Schools (BPS) Superintendent Carol R. Johnson today announced she will move to immediately create a Quality School Advisors team, consisting of community members and experts, to help advise the school district on ways to accelerate student achievement and increase school quality in the city. The call to create the team was embedded in the recommendation voted on last night by the External Advisory Committee (EAC), the 27 member committee appointed last year by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to recommend a new student assignment policy.

“Today, Boston stands as a leader in urban public education, but there is more for us to do to help all students achieve at the highest levels,” said Dr. Johnson. “More parents are choosing our schools, our graduation rate is at an historic high – and we even see more students remaining in high school beyond 4-years – so now is the time for us to leverage the knowledge and power of those who are committed as us to seeing our schools flourish.”

Superintendent Johnson will formally present the plan to create the Quality School Advisors team to the Boston School Committee tomorrow night. The Quality School Advisors will work in close collaboration with the Superintendent and the district’s senior leadership to focus on increasing quality in all schools and setting benchmarks for accountability in real-time.

Last night, the EAC voted to endorse a student assignment model that allows families to choose a school closer to home. If approved by the school committee in March, beginning in 2014 parents will receive a list of at least six schools to choose from, based on their home address, including high-quality schools.

The Superintendent will present all the recommendations of the EAC to the school committee on Wednesday. The school committee plans to hold at least two community hearings in March prior to voting on a final plan.

The Boston Public Schools, the birthplace of public education in the United States, serves more than 57,000 pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students in 128 schools.

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