The average combined SAT scores of Boston public school students continue to decline. Boston students do not graduate, one of the highest rates in the nation. In some schools, the dropout rate is as high as 56 per cent. Of those who do finish high school, four in ten cannot read at the ninth grade level. Over the last fifteen years, whites and the middle class have largely abandoned the system.
Violence is a threat in many of the system.s high schools, despite the schools.
Since 1980, the superintendency has changed hands seven times. The elected school committee was thought to be so politicized and ineffectual that the state legislature recently voted to abolish it in favor of a seven-member committee appointed by the mayor. Some community leaders declared the new committee illegitimate, claiming it violates the Voting Rights Act. As beleaguered as the Boston schools are today, they also face a rare opportunity. Within the system.s 117 schools, there are outposts of hope- outstanding teachers, programs, and schools.