Just as the Republicans advocate, Chapter 636 is a funding source that puts decisions about its use in a school's control. Bush and his supporters would approve, we think, of Jamaica Plain's Agassiz School, which uses Chapter 636 dollars to fund a parent coordinator for its acclaimed literacy program. They would be impressed with Roxbury's Mason School, which contracts with artists to work with children, freeing teachers to review student work and performance data together. They would applaud Brighton High's collaboration with Boston College to provide a coach who helps teachers improve their written reports to show students how they can improve, not just point out the mistakes they make. All these activities will disappear with the ending of Chapter 636 unless other funding is found that is similarly flexible.
Accountability is our watchword, the platform notes.
Republicans argue that it's long past time to debate what works in education. Boston knows what it is doing and has the most coherent and carefully implemented plan in the country for improvement in each school. Teachers and principals are working harder and better than ever before, and there are powerful signs of success. Boston's rate of improvement on MCAS exceeded the state's rate both overall and in the majority of its schools. While Cellucci was helping the Republicans flaunt their rhetoric about no child being left behind, Boston budget officers were working late to explain to the Agassiz, the Mason, Brighton High, and other schools that the Republican promise for more local control means less money for the students who really need it.