Menino to focus solely on education in speech
Seeks backing to consolidate or close 18 schools
Mayor Thomas M. Menino will use his final major policy speech of the year today to push a contentious plan to close or merge 18 city schools.
It will mark the first time since 1996 that the five-term mayor’s annual address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce will focus entirely on education, according to Dot Joyce, his spokeswoman.
“The mayor recognizes that now, just like in 1996, is a crucial turning point for public education,’’ Joyce said yesterday. “He believes all sectors of our city, including the business community, can be helpful in driving change.’’
Menino’s speech this morning at the Westin Copley Place in Back Bay before more than 500 business leaders will seek to rally support for a proposal spearheaded by Schools Superintendent Carol R. Johnson. The plan is designed to eliminate about one-quarter of the 5,600 empty seats scattered in schools across the city.
Closing and merging 18 schools could save at least $10 million, but it has faced opposition from parents, teachers, students, and community activists. The School Committee is scheduled to vote on the measure tomorrow night.
“The mayor will outline some significant reforms that he believes are necessary for creating not only a great urban school system, but the best urban school system in America,’’ Joyce said.
Menino gives three major policy addresses each year, concluding with his speech to the Chamber of Commerce, which describes itself as a broad-based association representing more than 1,500 businesses of all sizes, industries, and professions.
In 1996, Menino used the venue before the Chamber of Commerce to assail a ballot initiative that would have ended mayoral control of education and revived an elected 13-member school committee. Menino derided the days of an elected school committee as a time of “rampant patronage’’ and “dirty politics.’’ The ballot initiative ultimately failed.
Last year, the chamber speech served as Menino’s return to the public stage a month after undergoing emergency surgery to repair a severed tendon in his left leg. The mayor walked with crutches and addressed the business leaders while seated at a table, vowing to examine old problems with fresh eyes.
Andrew Ryan can be reached at acryan@globe.com. 
