Coalition opposes rezoning of schools
Members say plan would hurt poorer students
A coalition has formed to fight proposed changes in the way Boston assigns students to schools, arguing that it could lead to resegregation and fewer opportunities for students in some poor neighborhoods to attend good-quality schools.
The Coalition for Equal Quality Education includes Councilor Chuck Turner, the Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts, the Boston School Bus Drivers Union, some students, and several grass-roots groups.
In a press release, the coalition also stated that City Councilor Sam Yoon, a candidate for mayor, was a member.
In an interview yesterday, Yoon would not say if he was a member, although he stressed that he was a strong supporter of the coalition and a sponsor of a meeting the group is holding on Thursday.
The group is particularly concerned that access to high-quality schools for children in Roxbury, Mattapan, and Dorchester would decrease under Superintendent Carol R. Johnson's proposal to trim busing costs by replacing the city's three sprawling school assignment zones with five smaller geographic regions. The change would enable buses to travel shorter distances.
"How can you take away resources from poor neighborhoods?" said Miya Campbell of the Women's Fightback Network, an activist group in Boston that says it fights racism and oppression. "Boston wants to go back in history and that's not wise at all."
Thursday's meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Roxbury Community College's student center, where a plan of action will be developed. The group hopes to achieve the same kind of success as five years ago, when public uproar and activists forced the School Committee to abandon several other proposals to create smaller student assignment zones.
Then, like now, they were concerned about a lack of equity among the schools. Last year, Mayor Thomas M. Menino directed Johnson to cut $10 million from the system's $76 million transportation budget by redrawing boundaries of the school assignment zones. The School Committee is slated to vote on Johnson's plan next month, following public meetings, including one today at 6 p.m. at Edison Middle School in Brighton.
Yoon said that he is concerned the changes are being driven by financial considerations, rather than school improvement.
"If cost savings are realized, how does it benefit the education in those zones where there are more underperforming schools than other zones?" Yoon said.
Johnson said yesterday that she has not heard formally from the coalition about its concerns, but said she has launched a comprehensive plan to bolster school quality, such as increasing standardized test scores and high school graduation rates.
"I don't disagree we need high-quality choices in these communities," Johnson said. She declined to comment on the group's concerns about resegregation until she meets with them and hears any alternative proposals they might have. 