Reader FLERP answers the question of whether Mayor Walsh of Bostin will close public schools:
“Google tells me that Walsh announced that he would be closing schools in late September:
“Walsh acknowledged that it would be necessary to close some schools to “unlock more resources for every student. Access and equity is at the forefront of our concerns.”
“Walsh said nothing is decided, but he expects some schools will merge under the plan.
“It’s going to be controversial in some ways, but it’s going to be the right thing to do to make sure that our young people get the best education, in the best buildings, with the best principals and the best teachers in this city,” he said.
“So the issue isn’t whether Walsh intends to close schools. The issues are which, how many, and when.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Of course he will. His “retraction” simply said that he has no *plans* to close *35* schools. He might not have specific, written out, done and final plans, but he definitely has intentions. And it might not be 35. Maybe 34. Maybe he’ll be really generous and “only” close 30, just like Rahm “only” closed 50 out of the original 200. What a generous guy!
“Words” (parody of the Bee Gees’ song)
Lie an everlasting lie
A lie can bring “reform” to me
Don’t ever let me find it gone
‘Cause that would bring a storm to me
This school has lost it’s glory
Let’s start a brand new story
Now my Guv , right now
There’ll be no other time
And I can show you how, my Guv
Talk in Orwell-lasting words
And dedicate them all to me
And I will give you all my bucks
I’m here if you should call to me
Don’t blink and never really mean
A single word you say
It’s only words, and words are all you have
To take their schools away
Don’t blink and never really mean
A single word you say
It’s only words, and words are all you have
To take their schools away
It’s only words, and words are all you have
To take their schools away
It’s only words, and words are all you have
To take their schools away
Here is more context about the quoted material….
It was from a Boston Globe story on September 29th. The headline was “Cost for overhauling city’s schools could top $1b, Walsh says”
The opening paragraphs were:
Mayor Martin J. Walsh pledged Tuesday to bring the city’s deteriorating public schools into the 21st century, but he warned that the effort won’t be cheap.
“You’re probably talking over a billion dollars,” Walsh said at an event at the McKay K-8 School in East Boston. “That’s just a rough estimate.”
Walsh said 65 percent of Boston school buildings were constructed before World War II, and fewer than half have been renovated.
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.
Probably too many small schools that are a relatively expensive to sustain.
Pierce had a rebuttal to the denial!
“The Mayor “has never said, nor does he have a plan to close 36 schools.” The Mayor has said that he plans to “consolidate” schools. How can he consolidate schools if he does not close some? Oh, wait—if he leases some of the “consolidated” school buildings to charter schools then the buildings will technically remain open. They just won’t be Boston Public Schools. Despite the expressed concerns of the Mayor’s office, the Blog post was sourced and linked to twelve relevant documents obtained in response to what Boston public school blogger Mary Lewis Pierce [no relation] described as a FOIA [Massachusetts Public Records Act] request. Among those records was an agenda for a meeting between the Boston Compact and Mayor Walsh and a Boston Compact talking points memo prepared for the Mayor in which the Mayor is scripted to announce and define Enroll Boston.
Despite the claims of the Mayor’s office, the Blog post was neither untrue nor unsourced. However the Blog is newly concerned by the reading comprehension levels of those entrusted with the education of Boston’s public school students.”
http://www.boston.com/news/education/2015/11/09/mayor-office-calls-esquire-article-his-charter-school-stance-untrue-and-unsourced/zK5t3yBZih31bvhPGstDIK/story.html?p1=story_hp
If they want a real debate and community input, it will be messy. That just comes with the territory. Public schools are “public”. Dealing with the public is not optional. This nonsense about how dirty “politics” may not sully the high-minded debate is silly. It’s a way to shut down a real debate and allow only discussion that fits within a narrow “reform” narrative.
“It’s going to be controversial in some ways, but it’s going to be the right thing to do to make sure that our young people get the best education, in the best buildings, with the best principals and the best teachers in this city,” he said.
This is a bunch of baloney. They consolidated another school into my school (in Phily)and now we have “art on a cart”, “science on a cart” and the library disassembled with library books disbursed into classrooms through out the building. All this to accommodate the increased number of students. Discipline issues have increased proportionate to the increased class sizes. Bathroom use is scheduled, the lunch room, play ground and auditorium are over crowded. Their are dozens of intangibles that add up to a significant diminishment in the quality of a student’s learning experience. Over crowded classes, and over burdened teachers being the most obvious.
How about actually funding schools instead.
What about bringing in the charters? ,Consolidation of public schools is one thing and giving schools to charters and entirely different issue.
BREAKING….
“Oh, yes, it IS true! It IS true!”
… or so says the the author of the ESQUIRE article.
ESQIURE Blogger Charles P. Pierce released a statement where stands by his story, insisting that the Mayor, thru his spokesperson, is deceitfully using semantics in the statement denying his and Public School Mama’s story:
In the past, the Mayor has confirmed, and in the statement, does not deny that there will be schools “consolidated”. Well, according to Pierce, that means the student bodies of different schools will be combined, and the schools merged, leaving some of those buildings “empty”. In the process, this will bring to an end the existence of some traditional public schools in Boston…. i.e. “close” them.
The newly “empty” buildings will actually be leased—as in occupied, and in use by charter companies. So technically, the Mayor can then argue that they will remain “open” as schools… privately-managed charter schools, that is. These “open” schools that will be new occupants of the buildings will be privatized “charter schools,” not traditional Boston Public Schools.
Unlike the public schools, these charters
— WILL NOT BE transparent to the public;
— WILL NOT BE accountable to the public via a democratically-elected school board;
and
— WILL NOT educate all the public, as they will have possess the Eva-Moskowitz-ish ability to exclude the most expensive, and most difficult-to-educate students — special ed., English Language Learners, homeless, foster care, behavior problem kids…. either at the front end, or pushing them out later on down the line.
Pierce claims that there are ten documents unearthed in the FOIA request confirming all of this, including one with “talking points” the Mayor and his people should use to verbally downplay, minimize, and conceal the actual amount of school privatization that the plan will truly put in to effect — in other, words… how to lie to citizens of Boston about what’s really going on.
Pierce ends he rebuttal with this bit of snark:
“Despite the claims of the Mayor’s office, (Pierce’s ESQUIRE) Blog post was neither untrue nor unsourced. However, the Blog is newly concerned by the reading comprehension levels of those entrusted with the education of Boston’s public school students.”
http://www.boston.com/news/education/2015/11/09/mayor-office-calls-esquire-article-his-charter-school-stance-untrue-and-unsourced/zK5t3yBZih31bvhPGstDIK/story.html?p1=story_hp
—————————–
CHARLES P. PIERECE:
“The Mayor ‘has never said, nor does he have a plan to close 36 schools.’ The Mayor HAS said that he plans to ‘consolidate’ schools.
“How can he consolidate schools if he does not close some?
“Oh, wait—if he leases some of the ‘consolidated’ school buildings to charter schools then the buildings will technically remain open. They just won’t be Boston Public Schools. Despite the expressed concerns of the Mayor’s office, the Blog post was sourced and linked to twelve relevant documents obtained in response to what Boston public school blogger Mary Lewis Pierce [no relation] described as a FOIA [Massachusetts Public Records Act] request.
“Among those records was an agenda for a meeting between the Boston Compact and Mayor Walsh and a Boston Compact talking points memo prepared for the Mayor in which the Mayor is scripted to announce and define Enroll Boston.
“Despite the claims of the Mayor’s office, the Blog post was neither untrue nor unsourced. However, the Blog is newly concerned by the reading comprehension levels of those entrusted with the education of Boston’s public school students.”