Tommy Chang selected to lead Boston Public Schools

Advocacy groups and community members reacted to last week’s selection of a new Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, describing the appointment as an opportunity for the BPS to address what some decry as a sub-standard public education system

The selection of Dr. Chang comes at a time when the Boston Public Schools is facing a difficult financial situation, highlighted by outgoing Superintendent John McDonough’s recommendation to close five schools to reduce costs.

The school system currently faces a budget shortfall ranging somewhere between $42 and $51 million, according to the preliminary proposal for Fiscal Year 2016 that McDonough submitted to the School Committee on February 4. The school closure announcement prompted a protest by some West Roxbury Academy students on March 3 near City Hall. The students held signs reading “We are not your chess pieces” as they rallied on the sidewalk.

City Councilor Tito Jackson issued a congratulatory statement following Chang’s selection that also referenced school closings as one of many challenges currently facing the BPS.

Although Mayor Martin Walsh publicly endorsed Chang prior to the School Committee vote, some groups made it clear they would have preferred a different man for the job. The Greater Boston Latino Network had previously issued a statement throwing their support behind Pedro Martinez, the superintendent in residence from Nevada.

Their statement cited both his track record as “someone who works for every child” to bring improved results, as well as the group’s desire to see a “strong Latino leader” in a school system that is approximately 40 percent Latino. The GBLN has been vocal on issues of Latino representation in public offices, most recently in their December report on the absence of Latino leadership in city and state top offices and commissions.

Diversity matters

Alexandra Oliver-Davila, Executive Director of Sociedad Latina — a member organization of the GBLN – told the Banner that she still felt “very strongly Martinez was more qualified” for the position. She added, however, that Chang had a lot of traits that the organization found desirable, including the fact that he was an immigrant, had once been an English Language Learner student, and could speak from a personal angle about being a “young man of color.”

Oliver-Davila said the GBLN members were especially looking for his leadership on closing the achievement gap, ensuring that Latino students were graduating high school and taking “post-secondary steps,” and increasing the number of Latino teachers and administrators in the system. She added that she hoped he would work to increase partnerships between the BPS and community partners, because local organizations have “strengths and assets that BPS does not have.”

Marisol Amaya-Aluigi, Executive Director of La Alianza Hispana — another GBLN member organization — said she was “more than willing to support [Chang]” now that the selection process was done. She echoed the call for an increase in Latino teachers and pointed to the need for teachers to have greater “cultural competency,” or the ability to effectively communicate with students from a wide range of backgrounds to “understand how they interpret things.”

Futureproof learning

Giles Li, Executive Director of Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, underscored Chang’s cross-cultural appeal. He said he thought Chang’s immigrant and ELL background meant “his story will resonate with many students in BPS.” In an indirect answer to the kinds of concerns raised by GBLN, Li added that he found it “inspiring” that Chang “took it upon himself to learn not only English, but Spanish, as a means of connecting more deeply with the communities around him.”

Chang has made it clear that he hopes to transform the way learning takes place in the classroom by better incorporating technological tools into the curriculum, a goal that some education experts found exciting. Richard Stutman, the President of the Boston Teacher’s Union, told the Banner he though it “would be great if we could embark on something that’s ambitious, whether technology or other enhancements” to learning.

When asked whether such a shift in direction was feasible given the current budget shortfall, Stutman said he wouldn’t “make an assumption based on a current budget” and pointed to the ability to realize such goals further “down the road.” Oliver-Davila, however, said that the “financial piece…definitely concerns [her],” pointing again to Martinez as someone that she thought would have been better equipped to handle such challenges.