New school zone plan could hurt poorest neighborhoods

Families in some of Boston's poorest neighborhoods would have the worst odds of getting into a good-quality school under a new assignment plan unveiled this month by School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson.

The plan, which aims to save millions of dollars in fuel costs by shortening bus routes, would scrap the system's three sprawling school assignment zones, in favor of five smaller ones.

But a Globe review of state test scores and compliance with federal standards has found that the plan would create a less equitable distribution of potentially failing schools. In two zones, which encompass some of the poorest neighborhoods in Roxbury and Dorchester, state officials consider just under 60 percent of the schools to be in need of major overhauls.

By contrast, only one of the six schools in the newly established Allston-Brighton zone would require such drastic restructuring. Potentially failing schools in the other two zones account for 46 percent and 48 percent of the choices.

"This is a very worrisome finding," said John Mudd, senior project director of Massachusetts Advocates for Children, a nonprofit that works on behalf of the city's disadvantaged students. "There are not enough quality schools in the city."

The dichotomy reveals a city haunted by the inequity that led to desegregation efforts more than three decades ago: The predominantly white neighborhoods of the early 1970s, now much more diverse, still largely have better schools, as the cluster of good-quality schools in Allston and Brighton seems to indicate.

Conversely, many schools in the city's poorest neighborhoods have languished, prompting parents there to bus their children to other neighborhoods, sometimes several miles away. It's an option that could diminish under the proposed map.

"I don't believe in my heart of hearts that it has to be this way," Nora Toney, president of the Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts and principal of the Catherine Ellison-Rosa Parks Early Education School in Mattapan. "If people have the will to make schools quality, it can happen."

In an interview, Johnson acknowledged the need to improve schools so all children have equal access to a good-quality education. But she defended the proposed boundaries, which she said reflect parents' recent tendency to choose schools closer to home, and an unmet appetite among some parents for more neighborhood schools.

For instance, she said, placing Allston and Brighton into their own zone would help the district win back families in those neighborhoods who have left for private schools.

However, as the School Committee weighs the proposal, Johnson said she expects adjustments will be made to the map, although she offered no specifics.

"We are looking to improving those schools," said Johnson. "This is our first pass. This looked like a match based on student enrollment and facilities."

The Globe based its analysis on the percentage of so-called Commonwealth Priority schools in a given zone. The state considers these schools most in need of improvement because overall MCAS scores in English or math have fallen short of state standards for at least four years. The findings highlight the difficult position Johnson is in as she attempts to cut transportation costs, which at $76 million consumes about 9 percent of the school budget as many buses arrive at school each morning half empty.

Critics of the empty buses, as well as parents who want a broad array of choices, believe that school zone boundaries can be redrawn to save on fuel costs while ensuring an equitable distribution of good-quality schools. But they emphasize the changes will have to be made with considerable thought and open communication with the public. The department has released only scant information, but the superintendent is expected to present more details at tonight's School Committee meeting.

The Rev. Gregory Groover, the School Committee chairman, said he thought the proposal was a good starting point for a debate on rezoning the city, although he emphasized the plan needs to be tweaked. He said committee members not only have concern about an uneven distribution of good-quality schools but the availability of other desirable programs, such as dual-language schools and advanced classes for academically gifted students.

"I don't believe it is at a place where the School Committee would feel comfortable adopting it," Groover said. "We still need to hear from the community."

The department created the three-zone system two decades ago as a way to divide the schools serving students in preschool through Grade 8. (All high schools are open to students from across the city). Students were allowed to apply to attend any school within the zone. The idea was to expand into nine zones as schools improved, providing students with good-quality classrooms closer to home, but that never happened. Five years ago, the School Committee weighed several options to expand the number of zones, but abandoned them after many parents and advocates for disadvantaged children said too many poor neighborhoods would be stuck with substandard schools.

However, escalating transportation costs are making it difficult for the school system to sustain the three-zone model as school leaders confront a projected budget shortfall of more than $100 million next year.

The three-zone map offered an unequal division of underperforming schools, as well. But any changes, school observers say, should achieve greater equity, not widen the gaps.

Of particular concern are two zones that contain the poorest neighborhoods in Roxbury and Dorchester, where access to good-quality schools has been a concern for more than three decades. Even when families in those neighborhoods have access to a good school nearby, some do not feel comfortable letting their children walk there because they are located in dangerous areas. Instead, they prefer putting their children on a bus destined for safer parts of the city. Under the current system, families in some of those neighborhoods have the option of sending their children to Allston or Brighton, while families in other parts can choose schools in West Roxbury.

Not all poor neighborhoods would lose out under the plan. Mattapan, for instance, would be paired with Hyde Park and West Roxbury, where there are several schools that parents consider highly desirable. Data also indicate that Charlestown and East Boston, which would have their own zone, would have more good schools than bad ones.

The Globe's analysis, which is largely based on test scores, also does not take into account efforts at improvement that have not fully materialized, and some of those schools are popular among parents.

It remains unclear when the changes would go into effect if approved by the School Committee. Johnson said some changes could be made for this fall, but others not until fall 2010. It is also not known if students would have to change schools if they no longer lived in the correct zone or if the new borders would apply to only new students.

The Boston Parent Organizing Network, a nonprofit group that advocates for improving the city's schools, has not taken a position on the zone changes because they lack enough information to draw conclusions.

"Parents are not necessarily against analyzing and changing the current assignment system, as long as . . . choice and access to quality schools is protected in that process," said Myriam Ortiz, the group's interim director. She later added, "The School Committee is talking about how much is too much choice. There's no such thing if you are not offering what parents want for their kids."

James Vaznis can be reached at jvaznis@globe.com.