BESE

Last month, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education heard MCAS scores trended down. Better data was expected following a recent cash infusion kicking-in and the end of the pandemic.

Last week, test scores reported to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education missed the mark. The accountability system designed to ensure ever-improving outcomes is falling short.

When Governor-elect Maura Healey’s transition team announced in December the appointment of Lynn Schools Superintendent Patrick Tutwiler as the state’s new education secretary, the move signaled to some a break from trends that have dominated education policy for much of the last 30 years.

With the threat of a state intervention hanging over the city’s schools, local education activists suspect Education Commissioner Jeff Riley may seek to target a cohort of Boston schools for state takeover.