Busing proposals draw fire on 2 sides

Just days before a task force will unveil its recommendations on how to revamp 30 years of busing in Boston, two community groups -- one for and one against neighborhood schools -- are preparing strong responses to fuel the controversial debate.

Members of the Walk2School group, formed in West Roxbury over the summer, say that they are frustrated with the city's current busing plan and that none of the task force's plans satisfy their wishes to send their children to schools close to home.

''We felt our voices were not heard," said Kevin Monahan of Dorchester.

Members of the Work4Quality group, a coalition of neighborhood groups and community activists, also formed this summer, say they will oppose any changes to the current system until school officials improve the quality of Boston's public schools. They also demand that the school system create a task force focusing on quality.

''Everyone wants the best for their child, no matter where you live," said Kim Janey, of the Massachusetts Advocates for Children, a watchdog group. ''Until Boston addresses the issue of quality, I see no reason to change the way students are assigned schools."

Both groups intend to deliver their messages to the Boston School Committee on Wednesday, when a 14-member panel of parents and educators plans to present its recommendations for a new student assignment plan in a meeting at English High School in Jamaica Plain. They could face disappointment, though, because residents will not get to publicly comment on the report at the meeting, said School Committee chairwoman Elizabeth Reilinger.

The school system, rather than hear comment Wednesday, plans to schedule another round of community forums to get feedback, Reilinger said. Since last January, the task force has been working to devise a new policy that would reflect the diverse opinions of Boston residents, but also reduce ballooning transportation costs that topped $59 million last year. If approved by the School Committee, the panel's recommendations would represent the first major overhaul of the student assignment policy since court-ordered busing sparked racial tensions and divided the city in the 1970s.

School officials and task force members, who presented their report to city and school system leaders on Thursday, would not disclose details, but panel members have said previously that they will probably present two options. One, a design that calls for three attendance zones, could be identical to the school system's current setup, which has frustrated some parents because they couldn't get the schools they wanted. The school system uses a lottery to assign students to schools.

The other plan would divide the city into six zones, reduce students' commute to school, and cut down on busing costs, task force members have said.

The task force on Wednesday will also recommend that the city create more K-8 schools and create a panel on school quality, an attempt to address parents' concerns. The School Committee must make a decision on any significant changes by the first week of November so busing could be changed in time for the 2005-2006 school year, Reilinger said.

While the board chairwoman said the School Committee will not entertain public comment, City Councilor John Tobin has other intentions. Supported by the Walk2School group, Tobin plans to present the School Committee with a plan that lets students attend their neighborhood schools. Under his plan, students who live within a one-mile radius of a school will have top priority to enroll there. After that, if the school has more space, it will accept students who live outside the neighborhood, he proposes.

Parent Gerald McCarthy, a West Roxbury father of two and member of the Walk2School group, applauds Tobin's idea. Last year, when registering his twin boys for kindergarten under the current assignment plan, they were not assigned to any of the schools he picked. So McCarthy sent them to private schools. This year, he tried Boston's lottery system again, didn't get the school he wanted, so kept his sons in private school.

''Some people say they want choice, but I'm a parent and I didn't get any choice," McCarthy said.

On the opposite end, City Councilor Chuck Turner, the former education chairman, is now serving as chairman of the Work4Quality group. The group is a coalition of neighborhood organizations, including the Boston Parents Organizing Network and ACORN, the Dorchester chapter of a national neighborhood group, he said. The group's mission is to ensure that before creating new policies, school officials fix struggling schools, such as the 59 Boston public schools placed on the federal government's low-performing list this week.

At past community forums, parents expressed fear that if school officials limit the number of schools from which they can choose, more African-American and Hispanic students will be stuck in struggling schools in poor minority neighborhoods.