It is outrageous, as well as “unfathomable and inexcusable,” to quote Senator Chang-Diaz, for the Foundation Budget bill to fail. The bill arrived at the conference committee already compromised by the House’s failure to include funding for English language learners and low-income students. Rep. Peisch cited the “complexities” involved, but these complexities have been studied for years, and this funding problem is eminently solvable.

 It is past time for action!  A child born in 1993, when the Foundation Funding formula was crafted, is now a 25-year-old adult. And that adult is wondering if their own child will have public schools with enough resources to provide a whole child education. Where’s the legislative leadership to solve problems that have been staring us in the face for years? — Lisa Guisbond   → Read More

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. I am Lisa Guisbond, executive director of Citizens for Public Schools. We have been working to strengthen public schools across the state for more than 30 years.

We joined with other organizations to sign a letter to you and to Mayor Walsh about community involvement in Build BPS and the major decisions about grade configuration, school start times, and perhaps school closures that are likely to be associated with Build BPS.

The letter is 750 words long. I can summarize it in six: Lay your cards on the table.

These decisions will affect the lives of thousands of children. If you genuinely want community involvement, you must spell out the alternatives you are considering. Don’t dribble out your plan, a small school closing here, a parcel of land there.

We urge you to learn the lesson of the start time fiasco. You had 10,000 responses from the school communities.   → Read More