Christine Langhoff, retired teacher and education activist, welcomes Brenda Cassellius, Boston’s new Superintendent of Schools. She is not a Broadie, and she is not a Walton stooge. She’s experienced and she arrives ready to lead, untethered to the disruption agenda. That’s good news.
Langhoff writes:
The screening process was secretive and deeply flawed. Three candidates were selected for presentation to the school community. None met all the requirements laid out for the position.
One, Oscar Santos, was the hometown boy, with limited experience, having run a small town school system in a nearby suburb. Randolph has about 2600 students, to Boston’s 55,000. He was the protégé of Michael Contompasis, former Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent, as well as longtime Headmaster of Boston Latin School. Santos, president of a Catholic high school, was also a member of the Gates-inspired Boston Compact, featuring a unified enrollment system and cooperation among charter, Catholic and private schools – a favored initiative of the mayor. He received no votes.
The second, Marie Izquierdo from Miami-Dade, was a Broadie supernintendo and a Jeb! Chief for Change alumna. The school committee’s two Latina members voted for her, citing a need for an experienced bilingual leader in a city where 46% of the population is Latinx. In the few days after the announcement of finalists and before the vote by the mayorally-appointed school committee, the Boston Globe published two stories in her support. In the first: “Supporters say ‘next logical move’ for Marie Izquierdo is BPS” … Amanda Fernández, MA BESE member endorsed her. Fernández’, organization, Latinos for Education, is funded by the the Waltons.
The second, by the senior editorial writer, published just before the vote, scolded Mayor Walsh for playing it safe and choosing Cassellius. That Izquierdo did not get the Boston position is also a rebuke to the state board’s other two Walton connected members, Margaret McKenna and Martin F. West and to Governor Charlie Baker as well. The Pioneer Institute, where Baker was Executive Director, and which is funded by the Walton and the Kochs, has so desperately wanted a Walton takeover of the state’s largest school system.
Brenda Cassellius quickly became the consensus candidate of the many parent and community activists. She spoke of being a Head Start student herself, of her failed attempt to slash required SPED paperwork in Minnesota, said she will begin her term with a listening tour of parents, teachers and community advocates. She’s not a big fan of standardized testing and called for the scrapping of Massachusetts’ required exit exam, the MCAS. That last has many folks’ panties in a bunch, as if the MCAS were a sacred right of passage.
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/with-cassellius-boston-taps-high-stakes-testing-opponent/
“’I believe in a standards-based education; I just don’t believe in test-based accountability. We have had test-based accountability since No Child Left Behind, and it has not worked,’” said former Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, in the first of her four public interviews today. Standardized tests can help guide large-scale policy, she said, but ‘I don’t think that tests ought to be used for individual high-stakes decisions ever.’ ”
Might there have been a better candidate for superintendent of Boston’s schools? We’ll never know (unless Bob Mueller is looking for a job). But for the first time in more than 15 years, I’m not worried that the person running our schools is incompetent, a privatizer or a saboteur. I don’t think parents and advocates will be strewing rose petals along Brenda Cassellius’ path to her new office, but this one is a win for now, and we’ll take it.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Hi Diane,
My son, who lives in Boston, copied me the article out of the heavily paywalled
Jan Resseger
https://janresseger.wordpress.com/
“That all citizens will be given an equal start through a sound education is one of the most basic, promised rights of our democracy. Our chronic refusal as a nation to guarantee that right for all children…. is rooted in a kind of moral blindness, or at least a failure of moral imagination…. It is a failure which threatens our future as a nation of citizens called to a common purpose… tied to one another by a common bond.” —Senator Paul Wellstone, March 31, 2000
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when “moral blindness” might well read “moral reversal”
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Imagine that! A sane superintendent of schools!!! In the Deform Era!!!
Congratulations, Superintendent Cassillius!
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So embarrassed to see I’ve misspelled our new superintendent’s name. It’s Dr. Brenda Cassellius.
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Fixed
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Thank you!
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Now that they have a legitimate superintendent, the people of Massachusetts should work to ensure that only a certified, legitimate superintendent leads school districts in the commonwealth. What other profession allows someone from an entirely different type of training like an MBA walk in a takeover a school district and budget worth many millions, and they have no experience or direct training?
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As I mentioned, the state board is compromised by so many Walton connected folks. It’s appointed by the governor, who’s been carrying Walton and Kochs’ water for at least a decade. So when the foundations wanted a waiver for Laura Perille, it was granted. Perille lacked even an MBA, holding a BA from Brown in International Relations.The board decided her time as CEO of EdVestors, where she oversaw fewer than twenty people, counted as experience in a managerial role.
Boston residents have no say in these decisions because the school committee is appointed by the mayor. It’s the same case as Chicago’s; we are the only one of 351 Massachusetts cities and towns without an elected school board. The latest shenanigans in our schools have given rise to a serious effort to change that.
We do have stringent requirements for educators and their supervisors. They were just circumvented, in a manner that would have never happened in a prosperous suburb.
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They should not be allowed to install unqualified leaders of public school districts for political reasons. If certification counts for teachers, it should count for all. We wouldn’t appoint a teacher to the Supreme Court. Why can they install corporate pretenders in education? If they want a leadership waiver, they should have to ask the public for permission. They pay the taxes.
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Great to hear.
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I just received my copy of Diane’s book, THE WISDOM AND WIT OF DIANE RAVITCH (GARN Press, 2019). I have thumbed through it and am so excited.
I am promoting this book and purchasing copies for my friends and family.
Thank you, Dr. Ravitch, and thank you Garn Press.
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As a MN educator I can tell you Boston is getting a strong progressive leader and friend to the charter movement with Brenda.
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That’s the difference between red and blue states. The blue states may get a reprieve, but in most red states everything just seems to get worse.
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Peter, I don’t understand. Those two things don’t go together.
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Christine do like so many other educational leaders from around the country are doing and visit MN for yourself and see how it can work.
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Ah! Now I understand. You run a charter school in Minnesota.
https://nwphs.org
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Christina, Yes I am a teacher-leader at a public charter school in MN, and state school superintendent Cassellius was a supporter.
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Charter schools are not public schools. They lobby for public money but they have private Boards, they are more segregated than public schools, and less than 10% allow unions. Minneapolis has highly segregated charter schools, including one for black students, one for Hispanics, one for Hmong students, even a “German immersion” charter for whites. The Hiawatha Academies (overwhelmingly Hispanic) recently won a big grant from Betsy DeVos. She loves MN charters. Why didnt George Wallace think of this progressive idea?
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Christine, since Diane likes to confuse multiple issues and put all state charter school laws in the same basket I thought I would help out.
In MN charter schools do lobby (just like the district schools and the state teachers union) – for equal funding under the law. Charter schools in MN are their own district and are entitled to the same funding per pupil as district schools, but most don’t receive their full share.
School boards are publicly elected (I have included the statute below). Notice that by state statute charter school board of directors are required to have at least one licensed teacher on the board, and most have a teacher majority board. Imagine if all school boards were made up of a teacher majority.
By statute unions and collective bargaining are allowed, but with a teacher majority school board most have found it unnecessary.
Minnesota in general has highly segregated schools, mostly because of demographics and geographic location.
None of the schools in MN are “only for” any subgroup. Many of the charter schools in MN have a theme or focus, but none of them are exclusive. There is a huge difference between Native American parents and students choosing a public choice school that honors and respects their language, heritage and culture, versus government forced Indian Boarding Schools.
MN has many language immersion programs in both district and charter schools including Spanish, Chinese/Mandarin, Hmong, Ojibwe/Dakota, Korean and German that are open to anyone who wants to attend.
Here is a Primer for MN Charter Schools https://www.mncharterschools.org/_uls/resources/A_Primer_on_Minnesota_Charter_Schools.pdf
Minnesota State Statute
124E.07 BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Subd. 3.Membership criteria. (a) The ongoing charter school board of directors shall have at least five nonrelated members and include: (1) at least one licensed teacher who is employed as a teacher at the school or provides instruction under contract between the charter school and a cooperative; (2) at least one parent or legal guardian of a student enrolled in the charter school who is not an employee of the charter school; and (3) at least one interested community member who resides in Minnesota, is not employed by the charter school, and does not have a child enrolled in the school. The board structure may include a majority of teachers under this paragraph or parents or community members, or it may have no clear majority. The chief financial officer and the chief administrator may only serve as ex-officio nonvoting board members. No charter school employees shall serve on the board other than teachers under clause (1). Contractors providing facilities, goods, or services to a charter school shall not serve on the board of directors of the charter school.
(b) An individual is prohibited from serving as a member of the charter school board of directors if: (1) the individual, an immediate family member, or the individual’s partner is a full or part owner or principal with a for-profit or nonprofit entity or independent contractor with whom the charter school contracts, directly or indirectly, for professional services, goods, or facilities; or (2) an immediate family member is an employee of the school. An individual may serve as a member of the board of directors if no conflict of interest exists under this paragraph, consistent with this section.
(c) A violation of paragraph (b) renders a contract voidable at the option of the commissioner or the charter school board of directors. A member of a charter school board of directors who violates paragraph (b) is individually liable to the charter school for any damage caused by the violation.
(d) Any employee, agent, or board member of the authorizer who participates in initially reviewing, approving, overseeing, evaluating, renewing, or not renewing the charter school is ineligible to serve on the board of directors of a school chartered by that authorizer.
Subd. 4. Board structure. Board bylaws shall outline the process and procedures for changing the board’s governance structure, consistent with chapter 317A. A board may change its governance structure only:
(1) by a majority vote of the board of directors and a majority vote of the licensed teachers employed by the school as teachers, including licensed teachers providing instruction under a contract between the school and a cooperative; and
(2) with the authorizer’s approval.
Any change in board governance structure must conform with the board composition established under this section.
Subd. 5.Eligible voters. Staff members employed at the school, including teachers providing instruction under a contract with a cooperative, members of the board of directors, and all parents or legal guardians of children enrolled in the school are the voters eligible to elect the members of the school’s board of directors. A charter school must notify eligible voters of the school board election dates at least 30 days before the election.
Subd. 6.Duties. The board of directors also shall decide and is responsible for policy matters related to operating the school, including budgeting, curriculum programming, personnel, and operating procedures. The board shall adopt a nepotism policy. The board shall adopt personnel evaluation policies and practices that, at a minimum:
(1) carry out the school’s mission and goals;
(2) evaluate how charter contract goals and commitments are executed;
(3) evaluate student achievement, postsecondary and workforce readiness, and student engagement and connection goals;
(4) establish a teacher evaluation process under section 124E.03, subdivision 2, paragraph (h); and
(5) provide professional development related to the individual’s job responsibilities.
Subd. 7.Training. Every charter school board member shall attend annual training throughout the member’s term. All new board members shall attend initial training on the board’s role and responsibilities, employment policies and practices, and financial management. A new board member who does not begin the required initial training within six months after being seated and complete that training within 12 months after being seated is automatically ineligible to continue to serve as a board member. The school shall include in its annual report the training each board member attended during the previous year.
§Subd. 8.Meetings and information. (a) Board of director meetings must comply with chapter 13D governing open meetings.
(b) A charter school shall publish and maintain on the school’s official website: (1) the meeting minutes of the board of directors and of members and committees having board-delegated authority, for at least 365 days from the date of publication; (2) directory information for the board of directors and for the members of committees having board-delegated authority; and (3) identifying and contact information for the school’s authorizer.
(c) A charter school must include identifying and contact information for the school’s authorizer in other school materials it makes available to the public.
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Minnesota does not have segregated charters because of demographics but because the charters want to be segregated. That’s why there is one for Hmong, one for black students, a chain for Hispanics, a German “immersion” school for whites. Minnesota has tiny proportions of all these groups, yet justifies segregated charter schools.
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Charter schools in MN have sky-high rates of student suspension.
http://www.brightlightsmallcity.com/minnesotas-charter-schools-suspend-kids-of-color-too/
Their boards are not elected, unlike the public schools.
A high proportion are non-union.
Betsy DeVos gave a big grant to the segregated Hispanic charters (Hiawatha).
Minnesota law permits for-profit charter management organizations and cyber charters.
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A bit rude to come to someone’s blog to complain she “likes to confuse multiple issues”.
There are multiple issues wrong with charter schools, first most, that while education in many states has failed to recover to the pre-2008 levels, charters create a dual system where austerity does not allow for the full funding of the school systeme which serves all. If we can’t afford to fund one system, where are we to get money for two?
Secondly, the public schools are the place where children from across all strata of society are exposed to daily interactions with others who are not just like themselves. As our country moves back towards societal stratification by race and income, the public schools serve as a cornerstone of democracy. Children are all well served by curriculum that is culturally representative and emphasizes respect for all. Ethnic studies classes raise students’ interest in their education and students have have better outcomes, including lowering the dropout and disciplinary rate and promoting continuance of education beyond high school as research from Arizona’s Precious Knowledge demonstrated. Note that ethnic studies does not mean students study only one or only their own culture / language.
I find it so convenient that the charter boards haven’t found unions to be necessary. But take heed from Chicago – there have been several charters unionized by the CTU, followed by successful teacher strikes, both for fairer wages and working conditions. Remember, the teachers’ working conditions are the kids’ learning conditions.
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Are you describing public schools as they actually are when you say that “children from across all strata of society are exposed to daily interactions with others who are not just like themselves”? How different are the students at Lexington High School from each other?
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I congratulate Boston on their new superintendent. However, temper your enthusiasm. As we have found out the painful way, anyone can be converted. Our own Oakland superintendent, had the same qualifications -not a broadie, unconnected from the community…- within a space of a few months she was being flown, dined and hosted at a CRPE convention where “portfolio management was touted as THE next thing” . She has done nothing but implement every policy established by the currupt board of Ed fully in the hands of CCSA. She has not advocated vociferously for public schools and has and is manipulating the budget to continue the engineering of failure by design started before her. Good luck Boston, be vigilant!
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Diane, there is a big difference between choice and segregation. No one is being forced to attend a Hmong culturally focused school, and as long as there is space available, anyone can attend. None of the schools are designated for a specific race.
Not sure how many times I can tell you and share statute, but charter schools in Minnesota do have elected boards. What more proof do you need than what I have shared? Again most of them with teacher majorities. I believe in publicly elected school boards, but they certainly aren’t perfect if you look at places like Texas where some school boards want to include textbooks with Intelligent Design and even creationism equally along side evolution.
Once again, unions are not always necessary when you have a teacher majority school board and they have true ownership in the running of the school/district.
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That’s exactly what George Wallace said!
No one forced black children to go to all-black schools. No one forced white children to go to all-white schools.
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It is also what some people say about HBCUs and single sex colleges.
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Dr. Nitpicker.
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Here’s a letter to the editor of the Boston Globe, which they did not publish, in response to the editorial I cited above.
As the May 4 editorial posits, Boston’s new superintendent of schools, Brenda Cassellius, certainly “has tough decisions ahead.” Sadly, though, the editorial mistakenly attributes the support of many in the education justice community to a desire to avoid tough issues and to a predilection for a “kumbaya circle.”
Many groups and individuals spent countless hours contributing to search criteria, recommending candidates, speaking to people in locales of the finalists, watching interviews, and sharing information across coalitions. All this was while circumventing barriers put in place by the city and district. Support for Cassellius was hardly a “quick” decision.
Cassellius rose to the top for me and many others precisely because of her willingness to tackle tough issues. Yes, this included her challenge of test-centric evaluation of schools. It also included her willingness to embrace middle schools at a time when Boston has slated them for closure, and to acknowledge the importance of students, families, and educators over the traditional “kumbaya circle” of the mayor and district: the business and foundation community upon which they so often rely.
I look forward to the tenure of Superintendent Cassellius as, alongside students, families, and educators, she tackles the district’s greatest challenges.
Megan Wolf
Jamaica Plain
The writer is a member of the grass-roots parent organization QUEST (Quality Education for Every Student).
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/letters/2019/05/06/bps-chief-was-chosen-after-hours-thoughtful-advocacy/IozuN5dRhZCsFMsqMusSLI/story.html
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