City Council - Education Committee Hearing on Dockets #0276 and #0277

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Good afternoon, everyone. For the record, my name is Julia Mejia, At-Large City Councilor, and I am the chair of the Boston City Council's Committee on Education. Today is March 10th, 2026, and the exact time is 2.04. This hearing is being recorded. It is also being livestreamed at boston.gov. City Council TV and broadcast on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82, Files Channel 964. Written comments may be sent to the committee. Email at ccc.education at boston.gov and it will be made part of the record and available to all counselors. Public testimony will be taken throughout this hearing. Individuals will be called.

If you are interested in testifying in person please add your name to the sign-up sheet near the entrance of the chamber. If you are looking to testify virtually, please email Central Staff Liaison Ryan Pratt at ryan.pratt at boston.gov for the link and your name will be added to the list. Today's hearing is on docket zero, 276, in order for a hearing on transparency and accountability in service provision and spending for English language learners. And this matter was sponsored by me, Councilor Mejia, Councilor Culpepper, and Councilor Henry Santana. I was referred to the committee on February the 4th. And we're also here to talk today, trying to maximize on our time, on docket 0277, an order for a hearing to audit the Boston Public Schools special education and return on investments.

This matter was also sponsored by me, Councilor Mejia, and Councilor Murphy, and was referred to the committee on February the 4th. Order of Arrival. I've been joined here by my colleagues, Councilor Ed Flynn from District 2, Councilor Pepeng, District 5, and at-large City Councilor Santana. In the interest of time, and I hope my colleagues will be okay with this, you have 30 seconds for an opening statement, and that's it? 30 seconds? And I don't know how to work this clock, so I'm gonna use my phone.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the panelists for being here. I have a large district that includes a lot of English language learners, especially people speaking Cantonese and Spanish. I'm going to do everything I possibly can during this budget process to advocate for our immigrant neighbors and especially those that do not speak English. I think this is a civil rights issue. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I will I apologize in advance. I will be leaving for prior commitment, but I will be watching the video later and respect the work that you're doing. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Councillor Flynn. Councillor Pepén, you have 30 seconds.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you so much for all the panelists for the work that you do. Thank you for being here as a son of English learners and now a dad of a four-year-old that is in a dual language program in BPS. For me, this topic is very important. It's one that Just touches upon so many things that impact me personally, but also professionally. My district also heavily depends on these services. I want to make sure that BPS and Your organizations are just receiving the right resources in order for us to continue to serve our students in BPS. Thank you.

Good job, counselor. 30 seconds. Go on ahead, Santana.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for filing these orders. Thank you to our panelists for being here. I am someone who had to learn English and Spanish at the same time growing up here, I'm dependent and dependent on VPS and outside programs as well. My family and I have benefited from that, so I really want to make sure as we're heading into a tough financial year that our immigrant communities are taking care of. So I appreciate the work that you all do individually, and I'm looking forward to the conversation.

I'll give you that. You did 30 seconds to Council Santana. Good job. And I know Councilor Murphy, we were joined by Councilor Murphy and she will be returning. And I'll just briefly As an English language learner myself, and as someone who came to this country and has to learn how to speak so that I can fight for my own education, this is very near and dear to me, especially now given everything that's happening In our communities regarding so many recent arrivals and I think now more than ever we have to do our due diligence and making sure that we are making those investments so people who are and many more.

You are here to carry the voices of so many parents and families who could not be here today, so that's a lot to ask you all to do, but I know this is what you do every day, so I know that you got it. And then with that, I will turn it over to our community panel. We are, I know we're also waiting for Edith Vazil to join us. So we have, we're gonna start This way. Mari, why don't you start first with your introduction and we'll make our way. Everybody can say who they are and then we'll go back to starting. Your intro is just who you are, not the whole dissertation, okay? Just who you are. Okay, Natalie. Awesome, thanks.

I'm Ari Brands, they, them pronouns. I am the co-executive director of St. Stephen's Youth Programs.

I'm Katie De La Rosa, the Inclusive Education Liaison at the Boston Teachers Union.

I'm Maria Delort Serpa, Emeritus Faculty at Lesley University.

I'm Nyla Hicks-Fernandez, a student at Cache High School and the vice president of Boston Student Advisory Council.

And I'm all about making sure that everybody's comfortable here. Brockovich today, just so you know. I'm evoking her spirit. All right. We're waiting for Edith Bazil. So why don't we start with Ari? You have seven minutes. OK.

Good afternoon, everyone. Like I said, I'm Ari Brands, they, them. I am the co-executive director of St. Stephen's Youth Programs, co-facilitator of the Multilingual Learners Alliance, and a resident of Mattapan in District 5. Over the last decade as a community organizer at St. Stephen's, I have had the privilege of working with hundreds of Boston Public Schools families, most of whom are parents or caregivers of multilingual learners. But first, I want to share a little bit of my story with you. I am the product of a bilingual education. In 2002, I remember After school, I was in the school auditorium with my parents. It's a gymnasium auditorium, and all the parents in this public bilingual school are packed into the auditorium.

Learning about the fact that a California millionaire named Ron Unns was aiming to ban bilingual education, not just in Colorado, but across many states, including Massachusetts. And my parents and many others canvassed against it. and Colorado voters rejected the measure. I got lucky. But in Massachusetts, UNS won. A similar ban passed and bilingual education here largely disappeared. That history helps explain why Boston has so few bilingual and home language programs today. Massachusetts lost a generation of bilingual educators, and an English-only mindset took hold across schools and systems. It's the water we're swimming in. There's good news, though. In 2017, the state of Massachusetts passed the LOOK Act, which restored districts' flexibility to choose language programs that best serve multilingual learners. The data is clear.

The more home language a program uses, the better the student outcomes. Students in bilingual programs outperform their English-only peers in both English and math, not to mention The benefits of their home language to self-esteem, cultural identity, and connection to family. Bilingual graduates are better prepared for college, careers, and a global workforce, benefiting both our students and our city's economy. As of December 2025, Boston had 12 total bilingual programs. Next school year, BPS will add two more. But to be clear, only one kind of bilingual program, dual language, actually has the goal of students both learning English and retaining their home language. Dual language programs are the gold standard, But less than 10% of BPS's multilingual learners are in these programs. BPS has been talking about a priority of increasing bilingual programs.

but the current budget says otherwise. We're losing 110 bilingual teacher positions and 28 bilingual parapositions. BPS says it is expanding six dual language programs but this will only serve a couple hundred additional students. In contrast to the thousands of multilingual learners it is assigning to English only classes under its inclusive education program. Beyond teachers coded as bilingual teachers, BPS recently began collecting data on what language all teachers and staff speak. We'd like to see an analysis of how the upcoming layoffs will affect these multilingual staff and what BPS is doing to retain them in particular. There has been a lot of talk this budget season about enrollment decline. Many families, it's true, are choosing schools outside of BPS. Access to more bilingual programs would entice these families to stay in the district.

But for families to trust BPS, they need to see transparency and action. This winter, St. Stephen's Youth Programs put out a petition asking for a 10-year plan to make sure that every family that wants a bilingual seat can have one, in all of the major BPS languages in the next 10 years. The demand is here now. 590 people signed our petition representing voices from 86 different schools. They asked for more programs in 12 different languages. We know these programs can't be built overnight, but we want to see a clear goal and a plan to get there. Otherwise, we'll be in the same place in 10 years. The plan must include community voice. St. Stephen's Youth Programs co-leads the Multilingual Learners Alliance, which includes Bayesia, Citywide Parent Council, BTU, META, MAC, and ex-members of the district's EL Task Force.

Here are seven things the community wants, and we want them with clear plans, benchmarks, and annual public reporting on progress. Number one, add languages, don't lose them. All multilingual learners should have access to instruction in their home language alongside required ESL. Students should be supportive to develop both English and their home language, and all students, including those whose home language is English, should have opportunities to become bilingual and earn the seal of biliteracy. Newcomers should have access to SLIFE or newcomers programs in their home language for one to two years with pathways into dual language programs. Number two, a citywide asset-based mindset on multilingualism. City and school leaders and educators should recognize multilingualism as a superpower. BPS should provide

and many more. Number three. Increased access to bilingual education programs. I have already talked about that. meaningful engagement with families. Families should have a voice in school and district decisions. BPS should share accessible information in major languages about bilingual education and the benefits of maintaining home language. It's true that not every family wants a bilingual education, and it's important to have choices. But right now, for many families, there is no choice. They don't even know that bilingual education is an option. and how do you order something if you don't even know it's on the menu? Let's put bilingual ed on the menu. Five, bilingual staff. Schools should reflect the language diversity of their communities so students can communicate with at least one staff member in their home language.

BPS should expand partnerships to recruit and retain bilingual teachers. Six. Equitable and accountable Title I spending. BPS should consult families on how Title I funds support multilingual learners and publicly report spending and outcomes. And seven. appropriate services for multilingual learners with disabilities. MLs with disabilities should receive both language and special education services, including home language assessment and instruction in the least restrictive environment, IEPs should include language goals and instruction in home language. I know this seems like a lot. It is. But it is what not only Boston's multilingual learners, but all learners deserve. If we're going to have the best public schools in the nation, these are non-negotiable. Let's make Boston a place where every child belongs and every child has the opportunity to thrive.

Thank you. All right. I wanted to just acknowledge before we keep moving that we have been joined by Edith Fazil. So thank you for being here. And we also have been joined by Council President Breadon and District 6 Councilor Weber. All right, so moving on, we are going to go next to Katie. Katie, you have big shoes to fill here. Seven minutes.

Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm not going to shut your mic down. Thank you so much, Chair Mejia, and to all the city councilors who are present here today. My name is Katie De La Rosa. I am the inclusive education liaison for the Boston Teachers Union. My role was created in the 20 to 21 to 2024 collective bargaining agreement between the BTU and the BPS to help facilitate the transition to a fully inclusive district. Prior to this role, I was a special education and ESL high school teacher for 15 years. 13 of those were at the Mary Lyon Upper School. I've always worked in classrooms that included students with ranging strengths and abilities, including differences in home language, learning styles, and social-emotional skills. And I'm currently working on my dissertation at Lesley University on bilingual special education.

I'm honored to be here today representing over 10,000 BTU members who are dedicated to creating the conditions required for students to reach their full academic potential as well as supporting their social and emotional growth every day. Inclusive education has changed several times over the past few decades in BPS and has been changing again rapidly as this inclusion plan rolls out. This plan was developed in response to several data points illustrating the need for significant change in how we identify, place, and provide services to students with disabilities. Even with excellent planning, it is impossible to know how things will unfold. We are halfway through the planning and initial implementation stages of this plan, and already we have experienced many unpredictable shifts in the landscape. One positive shift are the agreements we came to in the most recent collective bargaining

Whereby we began to provide protections that limit the practice of having one teacher do the job of multiple people at the same time simply because they hold multiple licenses and the establishment and many more. Our goal is to make more gains in future We still have much work to do, however. and the concerns of BTU members generally fall into the categories of budget, paraprofessional support and staffing. First, even prior to our current federal administration threatening public education in our livelihoods, We knew that this inclusion plan was not going to be cheap.

The practice of one educator teaching the general education curriculum in addition to designing specialized instruction and sometimes also providing ESL instruction saves money, but it's definitely not the best practice. nor has it been effective in raising student achievement. The BTU's achievements in the current contract are a stepping stone to our desired vision for students to always be provided with gen ed Specialized instruction and ESL instruction by an appropriate number of dedicated staff. Educators are showing up for their students and families, making the most out of what they have. but now over 60 schools are being told that whatever progress they have made will not be able to continue because 10, 20, and even 40% of their colleagues may not be there next year. Added to that is the impact Several schools are feeling as they prepare to close this June or next.

I'm no longer working at the Mary Lion, but I'm still upset that the inclusive program that has been a staple for emotional impairment is being dismantled in the secondary grades. and we now know that the most recognized inclusion model at the Henderson School will cease to exist for high schoolers, as will another course to college, Community Academy of Science and Health and Excel, which are all high school communities that do the very hard work of educating teenagers with complex needs to get them ready to be independent, productive, and happy adults. Next, we are deeply concerned about paraprofessional positions being cut. As we shift to the reimagined school funding with compliance-based rules, paraprofessionals and all they do are being severely undervalued. We just got paras to be paid close to a living wage, and now they're losing positions. Thinking about a school without paraprofessionals is like looking at a house with only the structural beams to keep it upright, but very little else is possible.

Another top concern is that in inclusive classrooms, We will see a backslide to clustering students with higher needs together so that they can be serviced more efficiently, not because it's best practice, but because it requires less staff. We agree that not all classrooms require co-teaching. but there are students who are being meaningfully included rather than substantially separated that still need intensive support from multiple educators. Without the added teaching staff, we're seeing dysregulated students requiring the full attention of the classroom teacher, which creates learning conditions that are currently potentially unsafe and where all student learning is impacted. This occurs at all grade levels, but most intensely in early childhood, where classroom teachers are still required to use both their early education and moderate disabilities licenses.

We believe in inclusion and ensuring students have the most opportunities, and we know that this is going to take coordinated systems of support from multiple educators working as a team. Compliance is Not the ceiling, it is the floor. Becoming an inclusive district is not just about following the law and making sure the contract is being violated, is not being violated, excuse me. It's about giving students what they truly deserve It appears that without law or contract, the district is not able to fund what is necessary for all students, especially our most marginalized students. In conclusion, we are making progress as a district and we are in the process of making things right for students. and there are thousands of reasons to be proud every day of what's taking place in schools, especially for those who are most vulnerable due to their learning or language differences. If we weren't a proud district, we wouldn't be fighting to keep our educators at work and our school doors open.

I'll end my time by imploring this body and others who have power and influence to not let us go backwards, not erase the real progress in the systems, structures, mindsets, and strategies that we are making now and we very much want to continue making.

Thank you. Dr. Serpa, I'm going to go to you. It's good to see you. We were on the ELL Task Force together many, many years ago, so glad to see that you're still in this fight. You have the floor.

Thank you. Good afternoon. Buenas tardes. Good morning, good afternoon Madam Chair and Council Members. As stated previously, my name is Maria de Luz Serpa. I'm currently a professor emerita of TESOL and bilingual special education at Lesley University. And I've been a member of the task force, and currently I'm a member of the Multilingual Alliance. It is with great pleasure that I am here this afternoon to discuss a few important ideas related to multilingual learners with disabilities. I have worked to improve education for monolingual and multilingual students with disabilities for the last over 30 years.

Early in my career, I would like to say that I served as a bilingual learning disability specialist in the Cambridge Public Schools, in the Lowell Public Schools, and At the time, we used to call bilingual education general bilingual education as opposed to monolingual general education. Through my experience, I would like to state that there were a few key points that are critical in looking forward to some changes that are needed in the school as we currently know it. One thing in my experience that I learned is that learning to read only happens once. So if a child learns to read in Spanish or in Portuguese or whatever the language they know how to read. So actually by learning through the home language they are learning English. That's one point. Another point that I would like to bring up front is that

Currently, there is a need to distinguish between fluency and proficiency for all kids, but especially with disabilities, because kids are fluent with less than 1,000 words. Let's say a six-year-old. in English has around at least 6,000 words. Multilingual learner, might have only 1,000, but when you listen to them speak they sound alike. So then the question is, is this a disability or a language? We need to begin by understanding that young children will speak English without an accent and they are not proficient, but they are fluent. and the last point that I've learned in my experience that's critically important is the rule.

of Access to Home Language in School for not only for cognitive reasons but also for social emotional reasons. I usually like to call The home language, the language of love, where children who are in the process of learning English first experience love in their lives. So the two points that I really would like to make now, one is highlight some concerns that I have with the current situation. and it begins by the current achievement results that I do believe we really need to take a close look at what we need to do to make sure that kids are entitled to achieving at grade level, not just make progress.

So we have more than 90% of multilingual students who are not yet meeting grade level expectations on the MCAS, And we also have a high number of students who are making progress in English, but they are not achieving benchmarks. I would like to clarify that making progress One metric that is not good enough if we have in mind that grade level is the goal and we have the benchmark for English as a second language. Massachusetts policy in dealing with education of multilingual learners with and without disabilities changed in 2017 with the passage of the Look Bill.

which allows districts to implement dual language and transitional bilingual education programs. This is 2017. Research consistently shows that these programs produce stronger academic outcomes in reaching grade level and in the support of learning English as a second language in the least restrictive environment for all ELLs or MLs with disabilities. Yet, Boston has made limited progress in expanding bilingual education programs, leaving many students without the language support and development and learning that they need to succeed. In fact, we have about 2% of the student population in dual language programs, and that is of great concern. In special education, I'm going to bring up the word inclusion because this is something that used to be called mainstreaming.

It used to be called other names, and as my esteemed colleague said inclusion has meant different things over the years. From a special ed perspective I would like to focus on the fact that our multilingual peers have the right to be included in a general bilingual language learning class. But it's never inclusion for them to be placed in a monolingual English classroom where the instruction is only in English. So for multilingual learners with disabilities, the placement in general education classroom must include the language access and the programming in the Home language as well as in learning English as a second language.

So I would like to focus now on just a few points regarding access to home language. as a component of a free and appropriate education. Very important to note that Students in school need to be viewed with their home language of state previously as an asset, not as a barrier. But when the home language is not addressed in school, Then a lot of challenges occur and the results are well documented so action needs to be taken. When we are dealing with expecting home language to be part of the district's policy, I would like to offer

A quick framework that could be used in the schools because we have a wide range of teachers, a wide range of professionals, and all teachers

I'm just giving you the visual eye. You're over time, but that's 30 seconds.

I'll give you 30 seconds. So I will just, I'm in closing, that the practical framework In terms of home language access is that there are three points that are specific in terms of basic, better, and best. And for any student and any teacher in the school, one example is There is no reason as to why Boston Public Schools cannot offer home language access in music and singing and theater and Storytelling. So as we go towards the call to action I think that SEI, I would like to call on Boston to eradicate the and many more.

The effort and plan to expand access to home language needs to be implemented and to promote programs that promote equity for English language learners that they can learn grade level And as Gabriela Mistral says, she reminds us that children Cannot wait. Their future is now. Thank you. Gracias. Obrigada.

I just want to know for the record that the time that They, I'm so sorry. No, no, you used their time, so thank them. It all worked out. But don't try it, though, on this side, don't y'all try it, because we have a public hearing at six. So we have a hard stop at five and we still have to hear from the administration. So this is the reason for those folks who are tuning in wondering why I'm going really hard with this time situation is just because we don't have the luxury of it today. Normally I let everybody talk for hours and they don't like that anymore, so I gotta stop. All right, so Nyla.

Good afternoon. My name is Nyla Hicks-Fernandez, and I'm an 18-year-old senior at Community Academy of Science and Health and the vice president of Boston Student Advisory Council. I am here today not just for myself, but for every student in Boston Public Schools who depends on special education services, and for every family who has felt forced to leave our schools because those services are failing. Students with disabilities are being left unattended, unsupported, and overlooked. This is not a statistic. These are real kids, real children, our classmates, our friends, our neighbors, whose potential is being ignored every single day. I know what it feels like to see my classmates struggle while the support they need isn't even there for them. I know families who had to leave to make impossible choices and decisions by leaving the district, changing their student schools, and fighting to get the basic services for their children.

Think about it, a child who can't access proper support in school, or a parent spending hours navigating complicated systems, wondering if their child will ever get the education they deserve, this is happening here in Boston. And it's heartbreaking. It breaks my heart every day. This reality is clear. Our special education system is under-resourced and under-supported. Yeah, it's funded, but it's not really supported. The support is not there in the classrooms, in the schools. And teachers who want to help often lack the training and resources to do so effectively. Not all, but some. The consequences are real. Students fall behind in their learning. Families are leaving Boston Public Schools seeking better support. Potential is being wasted. and the trust in our education system is being broken. Every day that support is missing. A child's future is being compromised.

Every day families feel forced to leave. Boston loses talent, diversity, and opportunity. And all of this is preventable if we choose to act. We, I, am asking Boston public schools and city leaders of elected officials to invest in special education more. Allow the investments to actually show up in the classrooms. I want to see the investments. I don't want to see my classmates struggling because they can't get their accommodations for their IEP. Even me. I don't want my classmates being forced to be in a general ed classroom when they need to be in a smaller classroom because they have a learning disability, because our schools don't have those services, or are inconsistent. Systems, also systems that allow students with disability to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Just because a student has an IEP or is a special education student shouldn't mean that they're shied away from

Everybody because they have to learn a little bit different or it takes them longer to learn something. They're just as great as everybody else. It is not enough to say we value education. We must show it by funding programs properly, supporting families, and ensuring that students with disabilities receive the same opportunities as every other child and student in Boston. Ask yourselves, what kind of city do we want to be? one where students with disabilities are left behind, or one where every child, every Boston public school student, regardless of their abilities, have the tools and resources to be successful. This is about more than budgets or policies. It's about real students, real students like myself. Real families, real futures. It's about fairness, justice, and opportunity. We are capable, we are ready, and we are asking you to act now.

I am asking you to act now. Boston Public Schools can call itself a family of opportunity while students with disabilities fall through the cracks. Invest in our education, support our teachers, ensure families are no longer feel forced to leave, just because their children do not get the services they need. We are asking you, I am asking you to be the leaders you stand for for every Boston public student, every family, and every future in this city. The time to act is now. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

And I wanted to acknowledge that we also have been joined by Councilor Fitzgerald and Councilor Fitzgerald Nyla lives in your district, so. I just wanna make sure I'm making these connections, that's my job, make sure you know who you serve. Thank you Nyla for being here, and thank you for being such a strong voice Not just for yourself, but for all the students that we're here to fight for. So I just want to say thank you. I know it's not easy to be the student voice among adults, but you held it down. So I just want to say thank you for bringing All of yourself into the chamber. All right, so my dear friend, my good partner in trouble, we go way back too, and it's always great to see you.

Thank you so much, Honorable Chair and City Councillors. I have to say, Nyla, that was very powerful. As a student in BPS, I was inspired to go into special education because of the same issues that happened so many decades ago. So here we are to have this candid conversation. And let's get to it. BPS is a $1.7 million system, yet 80% of black and brown students and more than 90% of students with disabilities are not reading proficiently. Enrollment is declining, spending is at an all-time high, and outcomes are stagnant. The question is not whether BPS spends enough, the question is whether that spending produces results for students and which students are persistently left behind. BPS received an unprecedented infusion of federal ESSER funds, yet recovery fell short. A 2019 DESE audit described BPS special education as being in systemic disarray.

and today, outcomes for students with disabilities have not even recovered to those already disappointing 2019 levels. Black students, especially black males, remain overrepresented in substantially separate placements. Persistent disparities after historic federal relief cannot be explained by the lack of resources. The problem is not the students. The issue is strategy, alignment, racial equity, and accountability. The budget is not just a financial document. It is the district's academic strategy written in numbers. The FY26 budget includes approximately $553 million for special education, roughly one-third of the entire $1.7 billion budget. At that scale of investment, families should see clear measurable gains in literacy, inclusion, and graduation outcomes. When spending rises but academic, Outcomes stagnate. The question is not how BPS spends.

It is how effectively the district aligns spending with results. Why aren't these investments reaching students and changing outcomes? The proposed budget reflects a troubling structural shift. BPS is cutting 3.3% of special education positions, 167 roles, while increasing outsourced instructional services by 15%, or $29 million. Out of district placements, including transportation, now cost $68 million annually. While some placements are necessary for students with highly specialized needs, rising costs often reflect something deeper. The district's failure to build strong in-district programs capable of serving students locally. One example. BPS is closing Henderson 9 through 12, a nationally recognized exemplar of effective practice.

Discarding rather than scaling this proven model limits options for students previously served in out of district placements. Cutting in district staff while expanding outsourcing is like trying to save money on groceries while eating out every night. The system becomes more expensive and less effective. Nearly $100 million of the special ed budget leaves the district for private special ed vendors. Outsourcing does not build internal capacity needed for strong in-district programs. Sustainable inclusion requires building expertise in schools with strong school teams that plan together, co-teach, monitor progress, and adjust instruction. Reliance on vendors may solve a short-term staffing problem but it does not build an infrastructure of institutional knowledge required for consistent high quality instruction and continuous improvement.

Inclusion is not simply a placement decision. It is access to high quality seats in strong schools, which requires investing in people, expertise, and collaboration inside schools. National inclusion debates are deeply connected to racial justice in special education. Equity in assessment, identification, placement, and student outcomes. In BPS, black students are disproportionately identified with emotional impairment and intellectual impairment, often due to bias in referral, evaluation, and placement practices. Black boys are disproportionately placed in highly restrictive, substantially separate settings and harshly disciplined patterns that contribute to the school to prison pipeline. Multilingual learners often undergo evaluations that fail to distinguish language difference from disability, resulting in both over-identification

and under identification, often failing to lead to placements and programs that address their native language or instructional needs. A budget is more than a financial document. It is an academic roadmap, a plan that must ensure every student is on the pathway to graduation. Decades of research show about 95% of students, including students with disabilities, can learn to read with explicit evidence-based instruction and the right supports. When a district fails to build strong literacy skills, this is not incremental underperformance. It is a literacy emergency. BPS has used the focus curriculum in early childhood for more than a decade, and the outcomes have remained persistently poor. Maintaining the same instructional framework now called equitable literacy while expecting different results requires serious scrutiny and honest evaluation.

Addressing literacy requires a strong core of in-district reading specialists who can build the capacity of classroom teachers to deliver effective instruction. Additionally, district-wide, nearly one-third of BPS students are not on track to graduate, and the impact falls, again, disproportionately on black, brown, and multilingual learners who disproportionately lack resources to access mass courses required for graduation. In closing, Families need a transparent plan focused on student success with timelines, not promises on paper. Teachers need collaborative in-person professional learning, instructional coaching, and job-embedded support to effectively implement inclusive practices, not asynchronous web modules.

We urge BPS to set annual growth targets tied directly to budget decisions and develop a transparent plan connecting staffing, curriculum, spending, and measurable student outcomes. This work must be guided by using the racial equity planning tool which requires family and community engagement. Family and community engagement has not happened and this must happen or the gap between investment and results will continue to widen. A $1.7 million budget must deliver effective instruction, accountability, and results because today's students cannot wait for strategy to catch up with spending. Thank you.

Thank you. Oh, wow. Let me find out. You have... Good job. I timed it. Yeah, you did. You did a great job. I love that. Thank you. I also want to acknowledge that we've been joined by our co-sponsor, Councilor Culpepper from representing District 7. One of the reasons why I like to start with community first is because there's always a disconnect from what we hear from the administration or from BPS and what is happening. in the streets and in the classrooms and from people who are organizing. And I feel like it helps us, well at least I'll speak for myself, it helps me better understand the types of questions that I should be asking and the things that we should be paying attention to when we move on to the administration panel.

So I just want to say thank you for grounding us in your reality because that helps us set the stage for what this time together is supposed to be about. So thank you for bringing it all here the way you do. And because we have to have a hard stop at 5, I'm going to ask my colleagues, if you have questions, let me know by turning on your light. That way I know who I'm going to go to. So I know Councilor Flynn has questions. Because I don't want to force people to ask questions. I know how that is. Councilor Murphy has questions, Councilor Weber, Councilor Culpepper. All right, just want to make sure we got questions. So now that I know who has questions, I'm going to give everybody five minutes. Because if everybody had questions, I was going to give you all three minutes. But since it's only a few of y'all, you get five. Okay, and if you are inspired to ask a question, you can after the question period has started. Don't think that you can't.

So for now, we're going to go with five minutes each, and I'm going to start with, Culpepper, as one of the original, I don't get mad, Flynn, I see you already looking up, Councilor Culpepper, because he's one of the original co-sponsors, and then, oh, you, and then, he hasn't spoken. Clark, then Councilor Murphy, and then Councilor Flynn, and then Councilor Weber. You got three minutes now that I changed my mind. I'm fine, five minutes, just go.

Just joking. Issues with adequately providing resources for English language learners, among other things. Remain a serious, persistent concern in District 7. Many families continue to raise concerns that students will be in transition to English-only instruction before they receive sufficient language and their own language. And let me just back up a minute. Who do we have here? Is Dr. Simone Wright still here?

This is the community panel. Okay. Those questions could be reserved for when we go to district if you have questions specifically for them.

Okay, I do.

This is the community.

Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Brazil, because I do agree with you that you can't save money while eating out every night. And when I look at where we are, you mentioned this student prison pipeline, I look at How are young folks, especially when you mention the black men, and you talked about academic roadmap, and for them, the academic roadmap is really going off a cliff. Because there's no real focus in a financial way on how do we work to change that. And you know, for me as a black male, that student prison pipeline, I know people hear it a lot, but I don't think people understand how real it is.

I got a call from a young man on my way here, and he's on federal probation. Young man. And he said that if he doesn't get a job, he's going back to jail. Who's providing for them, especially when they're still in school? And so when you really think about where we are, and you can, You can answer that. I've got a few more questions because she gave me eight minutes. At five and three, she gave me eight minutes. But Dr. Brazil, talk about what we need to do to really be serious about at Student Prison Pipeline.

Thank you for that powerful question, Councilor Culpepper. I think, first of all, we need to acknowledge that there is overrepresentation. We can't solve a problem that is not confronted and faced. Right now, 22% of the population in BPS is educated in special education, disproportionately representing black males. We know from the John Hawkins study that black teachers ameliorate the school to prison pipeline issue, but also accelerates particularly black students, but all students, into advanced coursework, there is a 39% chance if a black student has a black, a black male has a black Teacher, just one year, just for one year in those primary grades for that student to get into advanced courses,

and into college and have aspirations for college. Right now, with the shortfall that's happening with the layoff of teachers, we know that black teachers are gonna be disproportionately laid off. I can cite the King School. I think all but one black teacher is going to be laid off. And that's where we, at Mel King Academy, that's where we have the highest number of black males. So students are not going to see themselves represented in the staffing. That's a problem. So there's a lot of work. There's a Morgan decree on top of it that's been in place for decades. that requires BPS to have 25% black educators, which the district has failed to comply with. There are numerous issues, culturally responsive teaching, professional development,

Really looking at, I think black males, I could have the figure wrong, I'm sure that Chief Seal may have the number, but I believe there are about 14% black males in the district, yet they comprise 29% of the students in special education. It is disproportionate, so that's a great question. We have been in a better place. We have done this work better. History matters and institutional knowledge matters. I was there, Chief Seale was there, when we did great work under Dr. Tom Paison. to cut away from having that disproportionality and having aspirational options for our students. So thank you. It won't be too long.

The budget, the Austin Public School budget, the proposed budget,

Absolutely, so much of my testimony was on that.

What recommendations do you have with regard to how you think we should look at the budget with regard to the student prison pipeline?

I think strengthening special ed programs so fewer students end up in special ed, first of all. We need to strengthen our process of referral. We need to ask the question, Why is that black student usually a male sitting in the back of the classroom? And why isn't that student going on field trips? Why isn't that student included? We need to look at general education to find out how we can firm up General Education so that black students are not disproportionately referred. Once they are referred, they usually end up in special ed. And the other piece is they go in and they don't come out. they may drop out, they may go to DYS.

You could, when we, because the problem, Councilor Culpepper, I'm sorry, it's just that we have a very limited time Well, you're already going to do it anyway, so I don't know why you're asking.

I just wanted to talk about dollars and cents, where we should take dollars from and where we should put dollars that will have an impact on this program.

And then, Edith, what you can do is you can answer that question Let me, let my colleagues, you can, that way, so.

Invest in literacy.

Invest in literacy, you got that?

If they can read, they'll be successful. If they're not reading, they're gonna act up, period.

You see? Don't do that again, okay? We're going to go to Councilor Murphy. Thank you. And then Councilor Flynn and then Councilor Weber. And I also just want to note, for the record, that we have been joined by Councilor, at large, Louijeune.

Thank you. Five minutes. Thank you, panelists. Your testimony is what I think we need, right? And we need to watch this tape over, I think, as we continue these budget hearings before we take a vote. and make some decisions. But just also to be clear, myself and Councilor Mejia filed a hearing order to look closely at the special ed services and the return on investment Mahir, and Culpepper filed the hearing order, which was very similar, just the provisions and spending for English learners. So we're holding both together. So much of your testimony. I feel like we could interchange the words language learners, ESL, with special ed. So thank you for having us here together. It's an important conversation. A few things. Doctor, you made a few comments that I was writing down, and it's so true.

As a former teacher in BPS, many times your progress was you took your beginning of year testing on your students. You saw where they were, and you All you were expected to, don't get me wrong, work miracles every day, but was to show progress. So you can show progress, but like you mentioned, that does not in any way mean that they're ready for Thank you very much. English language learners. So I do think we have to really dig deeper. And thank you, because I know everyone in front of us now does. You look at that data, and you really do pull that data out to get those answers. Even like the acronyms there, the HLA and the LRE.

So you talked about the home language access and the need. Could you just speak to making sure it isn't in the least restrictive environment, but also as we roll out I think the home language access is probably one of the critical

Thank you very much. Thank you. And as I said, I see it at the three Ps that you start, be given what we have throughout the system is that teachers do need support. and it makes a huge difference beginning with, for example, with music and gym, et cetera, The visibility of the home language in the school setting is critical. and I will take this opportunity, I'm doing student teacher supervision and I am in a local school district here and

The classes are basically Brazilian Portuguese speakers and from the Dominican Republic. This fourth grade, So I learned about them, I went in and I greeted them in Spanish, I greeted them in Portuguese, and I greeted them in English, went my thing. Second visit, I do the same thing. Third visit, I'm approaching the classroom and the classroom teacher comes to me and she says, oh, they are so excited you're coming. I said, they are? Yes. And so I walk in and they stand up and clap. And at the back of the classroom there is this 11-year-old. She comes to me and she says in Portuguese, Teacher, may I give you a hug? So the acknowledgement in the school, the teacher said, wow, the only thing that you did was make visible The language of love that they have in the classroom which sometimes they feel they need to hide to have it there acknowledging the school.

So I think that there are many different ways of getting to do it and the As I said at the end, the time is now. I think it's important to really plan, and as you said, it's critically important plan of action, short-term and long-term, so this can occur.

Thank you. Anyone could answer, but I know Edith, you touched on it. And I don't know. I hope we'd get the same answer when we ask the next panel. What academic or developmental benchmarks do you think are being used to determine whether or not special ed services are working? And I think you mentioned, too, it may say that we're providing it or checking the box, but are the students getting what they need out of it?

Yes, thank you for the question, Councilor Murphy. Progress monitoring is part of the mandated IDEA process. But it's really how is that student able to access the curriculum? That is the biggest measure of progress. If the student is accessing the curriculum and is successful with the right types of supports, then we can measure progress based upon how that student is moving closer to a successful pathway to graduation. And so that needs to be incremental and ongoing. It takes a team approach. And I just want to emphasize that BPS has done this work before successfully. and some of those supports and layers of support.

Can you tell us when, at what point was, were we meeting the moment?

So, you know, I know this is ancient history, but I'm talking about the late Dr. Tom Paysant. We refer to that era as the Camelot era. where we really had this phrase of in data we trust. We follow the data. And when we talk about evidence, what is the evidence that what we are doing is working? The evidence has to do with whether the outcomes are replicable. If we do this, we know that we're gonna get that outcome. And so we have what I call islands of success in BPS that work well. What we often do is focus on failure. We focus on transformation schools. You know, there's an old saying, weighing the pig doesn't make it fatter.

What we need to do is really look at those islands of excellence and see what's happening with the same demographic of students who are successful someplace else. and how can we import those strategies, programs, interventions, and processes here, but I cannot Ignore the fact that professional learning was the gold standard in the days of success. We focused on students but we supported teachers. It's not about a one-shot professional development, but it's about job embedded coaching. If we're not supporting what's happening directly in the classroom, why are we doing it? If an individual is not supporting what's happening in the classroom, why do we need that position? Those are the kind of questions that we ask, and in this tight financial era, we need to go back to that, Institutional knowledge and history are there.

And we say that history, we study history so we don't make the same mistakes. And so we have to say, what is the institutional knowledge that we're ignoring at the Henderson and in other places?

Thank you Madam Chair and thank you to the panel for being here but more importantly for the work that you've been

I had the opportunity to talk to the panel before the start of the hearing and I want to say thank you. I had the opportunity to work with Ari for many years at St. Stephen's Youth Youth Program Group on Parent Mentor Program. Wasn't sure, Ari, if you looked at the budget, and I know this is a program that you were advocated effectively for. Wasn't sure if you looked at the budget in terms of what the cut or any cut to this program would be or if you have any feedback on that.

Thank you, Councilor Flynn. And just to let folks know who may not know, the Parent Mentor Program places parents and caregivers in classrooms in their children's school. for two and a half hours a day to work alongside educators. Often those parent mentors can be the only people in the classroom who speak the home language of some of the students, so it does tie in here. We don't know yet. We don't have numbers specifically in the published budget materials on the Parent Mentor Program. So, you know, we're in conversation with the central office and we will definitely let you know as soon as we know, but we would love to expand it to more schools as well.

No, thank you. It's an excellent program. Those programs work. We want to make sure that we don't balance the budget on the backs of English language learners and students with disabilities. I'm a strong supporter Students with Disabilities Access to Bilingual Educational Programs. I want to say thank you also to Edith and to Ari and Dr. Serper Katie and Nyla, the student, BPS student. Let me ask Edith, and respect the work you've done for so many years, As it relates to black and brown students in BPS, how can we work, or how could this budget be different

to change outcomes for students with disabilities, for black and brown students, where they're in the right programs at the right time, have the right resources and support, So that they can be healthy and successful students. Is there something that's not in the budget or that there is in the budget that's not being addressed?

Thank you, Councilor. I think there are three things that I would say need to be aligned. The first would be to invest in early literacy and expand reading specialists. I think there are 24 now in the district. We do have certified teachers in reading, but they are not necessarily utilizing their skills in the classroom. Possessing certification is like having highly, High quality materials. They may be there, but you're not using it. So I think that's the first thing, to ensure that every student learns to read on grade level. And I'm talking about being preventative, with early childhood, but for those students who are in upper grades, ensuring that they get those supports too.

Second, I would say strengthen in-district special education programs so fewer students need costly out-of-district placements and schools build their own instructional capacity. That is really important. Where is inclusion working? Scale that. Often we try to fix failure instead of scaling success. And that's really important. Third, I would say ensure that every high school offers mass core courses that students need to graduate. We know that the exam schools, some of them do well, but for example, the O'Brien School, students don't have access to mass core courses for graduation and that's a standard that BPS uses. When resources are focused on strong instruction, inclusive programs, and access to rigorous coursework, the budget begins to work for students instead of around them.

And so we failed the same students. And fourth, I would say that make sure we have an evidence-based infrastructure for professional learning for teachers. so they have time to collaborate. That's something that we focused on when inclusion first started with Bill Henderson and other really successful leaders of inclusion. we made sure that teachers had ongoing professional learning. I was in the special ed department at that time and part of that teamwork. That is really important, investing in professional development, not asynchronous web programs. Where teachers, when they do it in person, they can ask questions. We would follow teachers into the classroom. We would model lessons. We would answer questions about students in real time.

The best evidence of success is demonstrating to a teacher that a student can learn using a specific methodology that one believes where a teacher does not believe, but you can't do it with my students. We need to debunk the deficit mindset in BPS that all students can learn and stop leaving our students behind, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have any further questions. I know I'm out of time, but I would like to say having the panel of teachers and experts in this field is very helpful and something I strongly support. And learning from their experience makes it a better hearing.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I know, Councilor Weber, you have your light on. And Councilor, oh, okay, joining the crowd here. And Councilor Louijeune, what I've asked my colleagues to do if they wanted to have questions is to turn on their light. Webber. So if you have a question, just want to make sure that you don't think I'm not calling on you, so just want to note that for the record. Councilor Webber, and then we'll go to Councilor Pepén.

CHAIR BAILET. Okay. Thank you. Professor Serpa, am I pronouncing that right? Bontargi. So we had a working session with the superintendent and we've got about 60 plus pages of responses to our questions. And one of the things we tried to focus on is English language learners, you know, and I use that multi-language learner, English language learner interchangeably. It's just because there's so many in our district, we need to make sure that they achieve at a high level and how we're doing that. You mentioned SEI, the sheltered education immersion. Okay, so some of the data we got, and something I was gonna ask you about, it's like around, We have about 14,000 students classified as MLLs or ELLs, and about 12,600 of them, 86%, are in

These SEI classrooms, these sort of gen ed classrooms. So my question is how do those kids Are they able to learn where we have an inclusion model and they're getting language instruction? And you mentioned you don't like the SEI model. I mean so I think so one thing we were told well they're getting push-in services during the during class in their native language Because I think one of my questions is, does every gen ed teacher in BPS speak Spanish, for example? And no is the answer. So I guess, what about this model Do you, you know, you said just to scrap the entire thing. What is, what are some practical suggestions that maybe we can implement?

And then what, in a sort of your model, if you were creating it, what would we be doing?

Thank you, Councilor Weber. The reason why I am very concerned about SEI is that this is a program that used to happen when I first came to the United States several decades ago. So as we understand, we In order for kids to learn, learning is language-based, so everything instruction that is done in English, it goes above their heads, they are not understanding. And so the research shows that SEI does not produce grade level achievement for most of the students who are there. So when we look at what state of Massachusetts is saying, that Boston can access. You have dual language programs, one way or two way. You have transitional bilingual education. and SEI is third on the list, but the fact is, the results, this is a program that fails before we even implement it because the evidence is quite clear. Most kids do not achieve at grade level in an SEI program.

Yes, they are being schooled, but they are not being educated. So what do I recommend? Transition, a plan for transitional bilingual education. There was a time that BPS had, for example, SCI that was language specific, which this used to be the old TBE programs. TBE programs or transitional bilingual education are programs that really usually last for three years. And so the first year you have 75% home language, 25% English, Second year 50-50, third year 75-25. So because home language is such an important component, transitional bilingual would be the default, not the SEI.

And how does transitional bilingualism, how would that work in a gen ed building?

Yeah, because very important question. The way we look at special ed, we have special ed in one language and special ed in two languages. When we go special ed into language, we are looking at kids with disabilities who are in the process of learning English. Their bilingual education program should be considered the general ed for purposes of Least Restrictive Environment Placement. The true peer of the inclusion from a SPED perspective means that they are educated for a certain amount of time with their peers, a peer of an ELL. With Disabilities is an ELL without disabilities. So the word inclusion at BPS is more exclusion from the perspective of placing these children who need to learn English and need to learn academic content in a general monolingual classroom

and having pull out or push in ESL. There are exceptions. There are a few people to whom SEI could really be helpful. Given what we know from the outcomes of the programs, if we are really committed to making sure that everybody accesses grade level, Dual language is the ideal, but transitional bilingual is the next option.

Okay, just one quick follow-up. Is that my time? Anyway.

Yes, you can have one quick follow-up.

So we have bilingual schools, dual language schools, Hernandez, the Muniz, which are in my district. Kids are gonna be in both. What level of investment in those schools? Judge Garrity and his integration rulings talked about integrating schools except for I think he referred to Puerto Rican students because in the mid-70s you had Spanish language speakers in Puerto Rico. They could be in sort of quote-unquote segregated school environments, a dual language program. What is a good district balance between the dual language programs and the gen ed?

Thank you, Councilor Weber. We should have all that across the school district, everybody should have access to dual language program, ideally, given that this is not a reality for now. This would be the gold standard. I think it's critically important to, on the short term, focus on developing and implementing good quality transitional bilingual education.

Okay, thank you very much, Chair, for letting me go over.

Thank you. And I'm going to go to Councilor Pepén. You have five minutes.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And again, thanks to the panelists for being here. Just listening to the community really always sets a tone for the conversation and what you are hearing from the community. My question, I only have really one question. It's for Ari, not just because you're a District 5 resident. Whenever I visit the St. Stephen's program and I'm able to hear from your members and the work that they do in BPS, I was thinking about the value that they bring into the classrooms. And I kind of wanted to ask you, do you all Do you ever speak with your parents about or somehow evaluate the impact that they play into the classrooms and what do they think are missing in the classroom? I'm pretty sure, I'm assuming, that most of them are in the dual language classrooms or would hope or can you explain that to me because I actually don't know how you partner the parents with the classrooms and what are they seeing, how are they complementing the classrooms that they currently serve?

Thanks for that question. So we are in right now two, well, three dual language schools, the Hurley, the Mattahunt, and then the Blackstone, which now has a new dual language strand. So just to kind of address, Weber's question, it doesn't have to be an entire dual language school. You can have a strand in a school. And also the beautiful thing about dual language is that You know, done right, you'll have half the kids, or done in a particular way, half the kids will be native English speakers, half the kids will have a home language other than English, and so there is integration there inherently, right? But to kind of get to your question about our parent mentors, you're spot on, right? Like a big purpose of the program is to get parents into the schools seeing what's happening. and then we do community organizing work with them. And actually the reason that I'm here today is because our parents have been asking for more

bilingual programs for more native language. And I hear all the time, the other day a parent mentor told me a story that one of the kids in her classroom, she's not in a bilingual classroom, right? She's the only person in her classroom who speaks Spanish. And one of the kids was completely lost in math. And so she sat down with the kid. She has limited English, but she understands the math, right? And she can follow what the teacher's doing. So she helped the kid understand the instructions, and then the kid got the math concept and stopped acting out, right? And so what we're trying to do is bridge that gap between home and school and bring parents' voices into kind of the center of the policy discussion.

And then that actually triggers a follow-up question for me, so I hope I have time. With situations like that, is there ever an opportunity for you all to kind of have a conversation with BPS? If it's either the principal or the teachers of the schools that you serve to say, hey, you just realized that because of a language barrier there, maybe the math wasn't They understand the math, they won't understand the language that the math is being taught in. How do you get to that, how do you help that student maybe, let's say, get to a classroom where they won't have that obstacle moving forward?

Yeah, I mean a big piece of it is the pipeline for bilingual educators and so one of the things we're doing at St. Stephen's is working with our parent mentors to get them. We just had nine parent mentors who passed the para pro exam, so they can become bilingual paraprofessionals. but we're hearing, right, that we're losing a lot of bilingual paraprofessionals in BPS. So we're not even sure if our folks who are in that pipeline are gonna be able to get jobs in BPS or if they're gonna end up going to other districts, other schools. And I think when we talk about creation of bilingual programs, that has to be done in collaboration with the families, with the students, with the community. The community has to want that school, right? And build it into not just the staffing plan, but the culture of the school. And so,

Part of what we do in the parent mentor program is we're encouraging families to go to parent council, to go to school site council, to get involved. and to know that they have a seat at the table because that also can facilitate the work of the district when they're looking for family engagement to build out these programs. You've got built-in family engagement right there with some of the families who have historically been excluded from engagement in those conversations.

Thank you for that. That does trigger another follow-up question, but it's a question for BPS. So I want to save that. Thank you for all the work you all do. And thank you. I hope to get to visit St. Stephen's again sometime shortly. But thank you, Madam Chair, for the time.

Thank you. I know that Councilor Culpepper was a co-sponsor. And out of respect for that, you get one follow-up question. And that's it.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Dr. Brazil, you mentioned that decree. I want you to talk a little bit about that decree. And you said it's still in effect?

Yes, Councilor Culpepper. It is still in effect, and the reason is that we know that there was a great deal of resistance to desegregation, but there was also, Judge Gary recognized, Resistance to Hiring Black Teachers. I was one of those black teachers. And so the Morgan decree, well, I was after that, way after, I'm not that old. But the Morgan decree was to force the district to hire highly qualified black teachers who were routinely turned away. and that is still in effect. That has not been removed from the court order, but BPS, I think if you talk to Barbara Fields, who is the expert, there was one time when BPS hit that target when Barbara Fields was in charge of equity never again. Can I say one thing about the ELs?

So I just want to say that there are three categories of students that are not failing in BPS. There are white students, Asian students and former ELs. So what does that tell us? That tells us that if we know what programs to create for ELs so that they become proficient they can meet and exceed expectations, which they do. Former ELs, if you look at the data, meet and exceed expectations. The problem I have with the term inclusion when you come to ELs, it's not inclusion, it's immersion. It's immersing students in programs that do not work for them. that, and especially when it comes to special education, these students do not get their federal entitlement, which is the support in their native language so that they can go from level one up to level five.

When you're at level five, you can dream in that second language. That's real proficiency, and we know that because the research is there. When students are typically, who are multilingual learners, referred to special education, they are at level one or two, and that's when they never get any benefit from special ed. Why? Any services that bilingual students are entitled to, multilingual learners, are cut off. They get an either or, not a both in, which is their federal entitlement, and BPS has been cited for that. So I just want to really clarify, we know what works for multilingual learners, and BPS can be successful. However, I also want to talk about black students, black students historically. I call them dialectical English learners because we often speak with a dialect.

There's nothing that has been done to bring us out of the lack of opportunity. So looking at that data, where ELs, if they are able to reach a level three, but definitely a level four, they're proficient. they're proficient and so we need to look at data and that's another part of what we looked at back in the day in data we trust.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. We have another panel, so you'll have more time to speak. Okay, just because you're giving me that eye, so I just want to clarify. You have more time, okay? Because of time, I'm not going to ask too many questions because I am in deep community with you all. I know this work personally and professionally even before I came into this chamber. And the only question that I will ask, because the only thing that I feel is consistent are the advocates that have been fighting for change within Boston Public Schools, at least for the last 15 years that I've been in the game. You all have been frontline workers, if you will. Some of it is your profession, some of it is your personal passion. And I'm just curious what it feels like

To continue to show up and ask for things and feel like what you're asking for is never materialized.

Well, I'll say as a student, as a BPS student, I mean, we can never stop. I mean, the fight is never gonna stop. I mean, I feel like we are trying to fix years and years of neglect. and that doesn't happen overnight, but as long as you are passionate about it, want to see the change and want to do the advocacy work, You won't mind showing up. I love being here. I'm proud to be here. I feel honored to be here. Thank you guys for having me because I know that what's going on in BPS is serious and I feel like, I don't feel obligated to advocate, but I feel empowered to advocate because these issues are like, It's the list is just going on and on and on and things are getting more serious, you know, and I feel like as a student I feel honored and I feel proud to be able to use my voice and not only speak for myself but basically speak for the other 40,000 students in the district that Thank you.

Thank you. We have to make change. Instead of just sitting in these conversations, they're great, I love them, but I wanna see action, too.

Thank you, thank you. Y'all can clap in my hearings. That's right. Before the council president comes and gets me. Okay, good. Thank you. She'll watch this later and I'll get yelled at. No. Thank you for that, Nyla, because I feel like for me, that's why I keep showing up, because they would prefer us not to. and I think that the minute that we stop fighting, then we've all lost.

If we give up, we won't get nothing.

That's right. So thank you for staying in the fight. So I'd love to hear, what do you want to change? Because community engagement I heard from various folks is an area of interest. We met with SPEDPAC. parents from CPC recently, and what we heard from them was alarming, and I don't know if it's true or not, but I gotta say it while I know it's true because I'm a parent, is that the district would rather not Focus on community engagement and stakeholders because it takes up so much time. And I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what I heard out on these streets. So I just need to put that on the record from somebody who might be able to co-sign that.

Yeah, I think I can speak a little bit to that and through an example. So this is a couple years ago when they were shifting the grade configurations and adding sixth grades to almost all the elementary schools. There were three schools that they weren't doing that for, and one of them was the Blackstone School where we work. And when the parents asked, hey, why don't we get a sixth grade too, they said, oh, there's no space. And the parents were like, are you sure? The district said, yeah, yeah, we did all our walkthroughs. We looked at everything. There's no space. The parents said, can you do a walkthrough with us? Sure. Lo and behold, the parents knew where the space was. Right. And so community engagement is not just about checking that box to say we did it after we made the decision. It's about a shift in mentality and belief. that families and communities and especially students know more about what's happening in their communities and when they're brought in earlier in the process, solutions can arise that we didn't even know were possible before.

That's right, that's right. Thank you for that.

And I'd like to echo that by saying that schools have students six hours a day. Parents have them 18 hours plus the weekends. and the parents are the expert. Once you turn your back on the consumers of institutions and programs that you create, you're in trouble because the perspective is lost. And I think that's where we sadly are right now How do we get back to that? The fact that parents found out through the media that their schools were closing is a big major hit to the kind of trust that BPS says it wants to build within families and communities. And you can't get that trust back. So I think that, yes, you can start over again by including parents not after decisions are made,

But before decisions are made, and please be transparent, the racial equity planning tool needs to be used not by just district staff, but with community and family engagement. because that piece of it is really critically important and we've gotten away from that.

That's right, thank you, thank you. As someone who went through the parents mentoring program, I know how important it is to have parents at the table so that we can organize. And I think that we've gotten to a point in this iteration of our lives right now that we show up to hearings, we go to the school committee, participate in parent councils, school site councils. We are organizing in all of these spaces and places and I just often feel like what we're seeing and what we're hearing is very different than what gets instituted and I think that is what's shattering the morale of folks and that's why people Not just because of the quality of service that they're not getting in our Boston public schools But I also think the level of disregard that so many parents particularly parents of color face There's some schools predominantly where there's a higher concentration of white students.

Those students, they're good, but it's the schools with the Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here. If you don't mind staying, we're going to have the administration. There might be an opportunity for just another quick round of fact checking. If y'all don't mind. For those who can stay, please do. For those who have to go, I thank you so much for being here. And I am over my little time here. So thank you. Thank you. And while we transition to the admin, I know we have two people here. I am one to make sure that we honor public testimony. So Kevin and Naomi. I probably... Naomi.

So Kevin and Naomi, you each have two minutes while we transition. And then I'm going to ask the administration panel to make their way to the hot seat, if you will. I don't know who you are, but if you want me to call you out, I will. We have from the administration We have Dr. Simone Wright, Joelle Gamir, Kay Seal, and Christine Tervison. Okay, Kevin.

Thank you, Madam Chair, so much for holding this hearing. And thank you, esteemed counselors, those of you that are here, and I hope the rest of you that aren't here will hear me later. My name is Kevin Bott. I serve on the board of Meta, not the parent company of Facebook. META stands for Multicultural Education Training and Advocacy. It's a group that has been advocating for English language learners for many years, not only with BPS, but with cities across the country. Some time ago, Class Council, serving for META, achieved a court order directing BPS to equitably use Title I federal funds to support English language learners in proportion to their numbers in the school system.

As part of that, I should say also before I get to that, I serve as a, or I volunteer with the Rafael Hernandez School Dual Language School, working after school with parents who are learning English. I am very lucky to be fluent in Spanish as well. And many, many years ago, long before my hair turned white, I was a bilingual teacher. in elementary school. So that is why this is a very important issue for me. Meta... and in this court order is designed among other things to produce checklists each year from each school to identify how the federal funds were used in an equitable way to support the English learners in each school.

The BPS has not produced those checklists to META, to class council, for a couple years now, and I wrote a letter to my counselor, Counselor Weber, January 2nd. saying that we had not received those checklists for this last year nor the year before that on how each school had spent the funds. I filed testimony yesterday electronically and I included that letter dated January 2nd. Miraculously, at five o'clock, Those checklists appeared and were provided to class council. If I may, just one more point. We were able to review those checklists Pretty quickly, and it turns out that there's over a million dollars that was not spent from Title I funds by those schools that had planned to spend them.

That, by the way, is enough money to support the 18 or so native language teachers that are being reduced from the SLIFE program. That's the students with limited... I hope that you will look very closely at how those federal funds are being used to support The English learners in our BPS. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you, Kevin. Thank you. See, information is power, and knowledge is too.

It was good to see you again. Good to see you. Good afternoon, city councillors. My name is Naomi Santiago-Dowman. I'm a resident of Roxbury, actually D7, and I have two children, maybe a third that's going to be attending the Curley K-8 and JP. And I'm here to speak about the special education English language learners and the deficit just in general. I don't have holiday data because I just learned about this opportunity yesterday, but I'm here to speak on my perspective and just how important it is to empower our voices as individuals and the parents of the BPS system. I just want to be here to again represent the students that are getting on the bus right now, the teachers that are probably still hanging out with the students because the bus didn't make it to the school, the parents that can't make it here because they have to work to make sure that those children have homes to be in.

I want to make sure that it's being seen, it's being heard and collected that this budget deficit or as Dr. Edith, so eloquently put it, we need to debunk the deficit because there is funds. It just needs to be reallocated to make sure that we're supporting all of the individuals that are most affected, which is the base of this entire conversation, this reason, which are the children, the smallest members of our community. So again, just here to ask for the city council to really look through this budgeting and vote correctly to make sure we're supporting specifically our black and brown that are most vulnerable and marginalized folks in our community. for this upcoming school year and so on. So thank you very much.

Thank you Naomi, thank you. Thank you. Right. So I know that there are some folks on Zoom, and we're going to wait for the Zoom testimony. I just wanted to make sure that the people who are here in person got to speak, because I know you all have been waiting. So thank you for your patience. And so we're going to start with the admin panel. I'm just curious, how many of you all by a show of hands have been in your positions for longer than five years? with BPS. Okay, so I won't ask any historical things.

Three years? What about returnee? No, that don't count.

Consistently for at least three years within the BP as an administrator. in the central office. So who's the new person? I heard there was somebody. Me. Oh, you're the new person. I was trying to figure out who the new person was without putting you out there, so.

Good afternoon, Chair Mejia. I'm Dr. Wright. I'm the new person.

Okay, you are. Just because I just have to say that I'm happy. I hope that you stay because, you know, we have a revolving door problem at BPS, which is one of the reasons why we... have lots of fits and starts. And I think we need some consistency in this district if we really want to get things right. So my hope is that at least they'll keep you here for at least five or 10 years. So welcome to Boston. I'm worried nothing really happens unless you fight for it. All right, so you guys are going to have 20 minutes. And you don't know that I don't like PowerPoint presentations, right? But I bet y'all have that, right? We do not. Oh, y'all got the memo. Good job. Show up in here. Speak from your heart. Tell it like it is. That is what I'm looking for from BPS. So, 20 minutes.

Well, I want to just first start by saying good afternoon and hello to everyone. I am the new kid as Chair Mejia elevated for the group. Also want to acknowledge Vice Chair Murphy and members of the committee. My name is Dr. Simone Wright and I am the Deputy Superintendent for the Boston Public Schools. And, you know, I just first wanna acknowledge that this hearing is much bigger than this moment. Based on the different stories I've heard over the last few months, there are decades of frustrations regarding the student experience for our students with disabilities and most high-lingual learners who may have the target language of English.

I hear a narrative where it feels like we have not been explicit with our families regarding the high quality student experience and the service or support students can expect in BPS. As a daughter of parents born in another country, I do believe that this was the experience of my parents. I'm not sure that they understood that a great learning experience would provide me with the support when needed. Mostly, the accountability was on me as a student. While I am still learning BPS in Boston, and I do want to acknowledge the community panel, because Chair Bazile and I have had a conversation. And I want to just uplift a few things that she said. There are pockets of excellence. I spent my morning at the Elliott. I also want to acknowledge that BPS is primed to scale. I think that came through in some of what Katie had to share.

And there is still a lot of work to do. I do feel as if BPS has a moral obligation to provide each student with what they may need to be successful regardless of whether it is legally required or not. Our hope today is to be able to tell our change story, acknowledging that we are functioning differently and there is still quite a bit of work to be done. We hope this experience makes it a little bit more explicit to our community as to how we are supporting our students and their families. I do want to acknowledge that I am joined by various members of the Academic Executive Leadership Team.

We have the Chief of the Office of Multicultural and Multilingual Education, Joelle Gamir, Kay Seal, the Chief of Office of Specialized Services, and the Senior Advisor of Specialized Services, Christine Trevisoni. They will support with answering questions that you may have, and more importantly, support clarifying any recent, current, and or future facing shifts We are making to support some of our most resilient students. I do want to acknowledge that BPS is currently in the second year of the implementation of the Inclusive Education Plan, as you heard Katie mention earlier. And the goal here is to really support, to make sure the district is providing appropriate learning opportunities

and the least restrictive environments for our students with disabilities and establish the conditions to support English learners with instructional experiences that not only support English language proficiency, but mastery of academic content. While we are less than halfway through the rollout of this plan, it is worth noting that we believe the implications of the inclusive ed plan positions the district to offer more quality school options to families across the city. It solidifies our commitment to providing every student with both required and beneficial supports while learning high interests and engaging grade level or higher content. Amidst diverse learners of various backgrounds and cultures.

While our bottom line is to increase the quality of the student experience and be able to quantify the impact through various measures, both aggregate and disaggregated, we acknowledge we have a lot of work to do. And there are early wins that we do want to acknowledge. For example, the increase in four-year grad rates for our students with disabilities, multilingual learners, multilingual learners with disabilities, and overall. We also want to acknowledge the decrease in dropout rate for our students with disabilities, multilingual learners, multilingual learners with disabilities, and aggregate. You heard a number of folks talk about increased English language proficiency. Last year, grade seven and grade nine were a part of our year one rollout for the implementation of the inclusive education plan.

And it is worth noting in grade seven, we did see a 4% increase trending for students acquiring English. Same for grades nine. We are now solely supporting our multilingual learners with English language proficiency. We have also placed a stake in the ground on expanding dual language bilingual education programs to support native language instruction. During the 25-26 school year, we opened four new dual language programs. We are also excited to be able to share that there's a Spanish pathway option in most parts of the city. I do, once again, want to reiterate the work that we have in front of us. As a fairly new deputy superintendent of academics,

My focus is to continue to better understand the assets of our system that is both BPS and the Boston community, the aspirations of our students and families, and build on some of those early wins so that each student has access to the resources and supports to be able to unlock the greatness within them. Thank you for the opportunity to share a few words.

You did so in 13. You still have 13 minutes left. Do you want your team to Speak, you guys, are you prepared each to say some opening remarks? You have the floor. You might as well use it while you got it. Unless you don't want to, and that's okay too.

Just want to say thank you. I welcome the opportunity to be here. With Dr. Simone and my colleagues also want to share that I have been in BPS for over 13 years. I started off in the Office of English Language Learners and then I went to be a school administrator and created the first in the nation Haitian dual language program and then was tapped to be the chief of the office. So I do have, and as a BPS graduate, I do have a lot of historical context. And my parents were also multilingual learners that graduated from Boston Public Schools So the work that I do and my colleagues do are really rooted in knowing that the success that my parents had and the success that I have Thank you and I think it's so important for those folks who are tuning in to recognize that history.

Right? And that lived experience that you bring to the table because it's not just political. It's really ingrained in who you are and how you show up in the world. And I think that that's what I'm encouraging for BPS, at least when I'm interacting with you all is that's why I don't like PowerPoint presentations because I think it gets away from the humanity of what we're talking about. And I think data is definitely important but I also think that people need to understand who you are from a very different space than it's not just what you do, it's who you are and how you do that work that informs how you fight for the kids that we're here to talk about. So thank you for your leadership and for that. Decades that you have served. EPS. Okay. Y'all don't all have to do that unless you feel the need to, but if you want to clap back, go ahead. This is your time.

Go ahead. Once again, I just want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to also have a voice. And I want to give a shout out to our student, Nyler, because what you said was very touching, but it was also very authentic and real. And we really value your voice and all the voices of our students because you represent many. So thank you for sharing and being so transparent and honest. Thank you so much. I, too, was a student at Boston Public Schools, so I understand firsthand what that struggle looks like because Back then, and I don't want to outdate myself, but I also was impacted by desegregation and busing. So I know what it feels like to not have a sense of belonging, because that's a real feeling. and it doesn't go away. So I look at myself also being a student in Boston Public Schools throughout my Thank you for joining us.

provide capacity to re-engage our families through this process because my family trusts the Boston Public Schools to do right by me. And I see my role also as really re-engaging with our families but also amplifying our students' voice to really be impactful in terms of the work that we're doing collectively within the Boston Public Schools. So I look forward to engaging in more conversations with you about this topic because not only is it critical, but there's clearly a sense of urgency. So thank you.

I'm just going to take a second to thank everyone, especially to all members of the public who spoke. Katie, my partner in crime, we talk every day. We're here because we want to hear from you and answer your questions so that we can work together to improve things for all of our students. So thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. All right. So thank you. Thank you for that. I think it's important to ground us in who is here. Sometimes we can't just see the suits. We've got to see the heart of the matter. So thank you for that. Okay, so with that, I think I'm just going to dive into questions because we also have public testimony and a hard stop at five. So I'm just gonna go straight to my co-sponsors first. You each have five minutes. Murphy, and Councilor Culpepper. I will start off with my

You see how fair I am?

I'm going to set the model so you can model after me. I'll end one time. Y'all are crazy. Thank you for being here again, which is good. We keep seeing each other. So the special education budget exceeds $421 million and accounts for nearly a quarter of the district's operating budget. With the level of investment comes responsibility, Accountability and Measurable Results. Why? I think, you know, Councilman Heer, myself and other colleagues continue to, you know, our tool of filing hearing orders, filing 17Fs, kind of really getting the data to see what is really happening. But I can speak for myself. Families across Boston continue to raise serious concerns about delayed services, staffing shortages, inconsistent implementation of IEPs, and the growing reliance on expensive out of district placements.

At the same time, educators and service providers are working under tremendous pressure to meet complex needs, especially as we continue to roll out inclusion I will say I spent, so my first year of teaching, I don't know, do you remember Mr. Carr at the Marshall School? I was in, when we still had dual language. So I was the English teacher in fifth grade, he was the Spanish teacher, and the kids They flipped back and forth and then spent 12 years at the Murphy School and left there. Thought I would probably stay there for my whole career. It was where I went to kindergarten back in 1974 when the school opened. also myself and Councilman Mejia are the same age so we lived through that same era and was always proud named after my grandfather but went to the Henderson and really wanted to do the special ed work and the inclusion work and saw it done right there so

No and as an ELL teacher and all the certifications I know teachers now sometimes try to hide because it's been said and we just know they're expected to do way more and the results they're just not seeing so it's Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's a wonderful school. I thought always the schools I was at. So when we bring up these tough conversations, these tough questions, we need to address that. Where are the adults in the room? We have comms people. The ability, and oftentimes I hear, well, we just need to do a better job of promoting ourselves. And I don't see it that way. I don't think that kids' education should rely on, you know,

Thank you for joining us. students and teachers right and then the heightened concern and you were we had that hearing where we were trying to address what does the shortfall you know just to finish out this year what does that mean to our students what does that mean to our teachers and getting a lot of, you know, individual concerns, right? Like the SPED director at Charlestown High is being told she's not returning and there'll be a, you know, a change maybe. One direct question is, what is the plan in place at Charlestown High School, knowing that we're removing someone there? Also, the Henderson K-12 didn't renew their innovation Thank you.

Thank you. Create different staffing models and classroom setups based on it not being a straight BPS school. So if we could address those two, I know my time will run out, but in the first round that would be helpful. Thank you.

Thank you. City Council Murphy. I just would, I will address the Charlestown High and I would pass the Henderson to my colleague, Christine Trevisoni. First of all, I just want to say that when we're talking about specific schools, as we go through the budget collab process, It is at the discretion of the school leader to make that decision and the school leader has worked strategically to look at his budget and to make a decision based on the needs of the students as well as the needs of The District Initiatives. And my understanding is that special education services will still receive all of the services and the supports that they need. We do have an assistant director that is assigned to that region. There's also a coordinator of special education that will be responsible for overseeing not just the compliance for special ed services but also to ensure that students have access but also have free and appropriate public education. and the IEPs are done effectively and efficiently.

So that decision was made by the school leader because he is, yes. So I'm not here to explain his decision. I just want to say that.

And I don't expect you to. And I understand that, obviously, each school leader is given that. Administration has to always step in when they feel like those decisions aren't done right.

But we have felt that there are supports that they were needed because what is happening also is he's focusing also on Thank you. Thank you. The rationale for some of the changes that he has made in his school.

So whoever can speak on the Anderson, and then we're going to move on.

I can speak briefly on the Henderson. It's nice to see you again. Murphy. It's my third time in a week in the hot seat. With regards to the Henderson, Henderson obviously has been a long-standing model, very successful. very acknowledged not only just through Boston but throughout Massachusetts and the country with regards to Some of the data that we looked at, especially at the high school level, I believe I'm going to quote off my head without being 100% accurate. Approximately 56% of the students in the eighth grade did not return to the Henderson So some of the numbers were based upon that affecting the budget.

Sorry, not to interrupt, but I wasn't questioning the high school decision because it was about the fact that they're no longer an innovation school and what implications that might have for the whole school all the way to K-0.

Unfortunately, I don't have the answers to that question, but I will definitely follow up with the team to get that information back for you on that.

We're going on to Councillor Culpepper. You have five minutes.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good to see you again, Dr. Wright and the entire team. I want to pick up from where we left off last week regarding evidence-based teaching. And you heard Dr. Brazile mentioned evidence-based teaching. Where are we with the BPS and evidence-based teachers, or how much of the teaching that takes place now is evidence-based teaching?

Yeah, I think that's a complicated question. And I think one thing I do want to acknowledge is the focus on high quality instructional materials. I would offer that that is intended to catalyze teacher practice, but It's not necessarily the fix. You heard Ms. Bazile talk about professional learning, right? I would say that we're on a journey. I think there are places where things are happening and we are seeing impact. And then there are places where we still have some work to do, right? I think the other piece, Councilor Culpepper, that I don't want to lose from this conversation is we have to center our students in their experiences, right? So when I think about Boston Public Schools and who we serve,

I'm not sure that taking something like from research and doing it exactly the way it's written is going to ensure that every student is successful. So I think there's some nuance there as well that we have to account for.

With evidence-based teaching, how much of our teaching in the Boston public school system is based on evidence-based teaching. That's what I'm trying to get to. And where are we with it?

I would offer that we have provided the resources to position all teachers to be able to facilitate evidence-based instruction. Now, whether it is happening or not, I think that's where I still have some learning to do.

Isn't there some training that takes place for the teachers in order to be able to teach the material that you're giving to them? Yes. And where are we in terms of the percentages of teachers that are evidence-based trained teachers in the Boston public school system?

I would offer that most teachers have had some version of training. I think that once again, it is complex. And I would also acknowledge that this is sort of the work we're planning for next year. which is to look at some of our implementation data, refine our approach to professional learning so that we see the impact in student achievement.

I was going to say that Maybe 25% of the teachers are evidence-based teaching trained.

I would offer that it is more than that because every teacher has access to high quality instructional materials.

No, I understand the materials, but I'm talking about There's a difference between giving them the material and being trained to use the material. I'm trying to get to what percentage of the teachers have been trained to use the materials that you've given them.

I would say every teacher has had some form of training with the rollout of the inclusive education plan.

So we're talking about evidence-based teaching, right? We're talking about if there was a certificate, if they had to be certified at a certain level of evidence-based teaching, how many teachers do you think would pass a certification as being trained in evidence-based teaching.

I just want to just clarify when we talk about evidence-based training and we talk about the capacity of our teachers. Right? And when DESE looks at the qualifications of all of our educators, there are credentials that our teachers have, especially at the secondary level. I have to be highly qualified if I'm going to be teaching algebra, right? So there is proficiency and there's There are requirements for me to take in order to be skilled in order to teach that content subject area. So I think that's important, to think about what we have for our teaching staff that are highly qualified to teach the content subject areas. and then the evidence-based strategies from what you're asking for in terms of our percentages is based on a range of I can say for students with disabilities,

We have over 2,972 special education teachers that are trained in evidence-based practices in teaching reading and literacy. For example, like Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, and those that specialize evidence-based practices programs to teach reading and literacy for our students with disabilities.

Do you have any criteria that you use to Assess whether a teacher is evidence-based competent

I can jump in here. And Councilor Culpepper, I just want to be honest, because we met last week. I feel like we understood that we can be honest with each other here, right? It is hard to answer your question when a lot of this conversation is around whether students are learning. So I think we can get consumed with whether teachers are trained, but the conversation around, the real conversation is are kids learning and can we measure it? So I just want to acknowledge that. And to answer your question, we do have a tool that we walk classrooms to observe to see if the practices we have named, right, that should be happening for kids to learn, we do have that.

Thank you. Thank you. Name the tool, please. And then we're moving on.

It's an internal walkthrough tool.

Internal Walkthrough Tool.

Internal Walkthrough Tool, yes, yes.

We have time, I got you. We can get it to you. Okay, for the record, we'll get that to you. Okay, so we're going to go, and I see all my colleagues have questions, so I just want to be mindful of the fact that we also have public testimony, so I am really trying to stay on point here, okay? We have Councilor Pepén, followed by Councilor Weber, and then Councilor Louijeune. So Councilor Pepén, you have five minutes.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you so much to the panelists for being here. Dr. Wright, thank you for your transparency and your honesty. I love the way that you have approached this, and congratulations on your role. It's been great to get to know you and see that You come with lived experience as well into this role, so just thank you for talking about this with that mindset. My questions for you and for your team is more so I think about the bilingual education, dual language, and the question that I keep getting asked and I think is brought up here today is why are there so many cuts? What's the decision to the teachers or paraprofessionals that serve dual language programs? I want to get more of a understanding of

The decision making behind it, I also have heard that maybe it's the reclassifications or like, how are you structuring this so that we can make sure that services are, there's no gaps in services, especially with, there's so many The new students that BPS saw are usually from an immigrant community where English is their second language. So I just want to make sure that BPS is ready to make sure that they're providing that education and that support for the students. Should we just break that down? I think that's a question that I just keep getting from community members and parents.

So I want to acknowledge, I appreciate you acknowledging my lived experiences in some, you know, my life part of BPS. And a core part, I'm still within my first 90 days. and I've been doing quite a bit of question asking and learning. I think one thing I do want to name specific to Our dual language bilingual education program. I remember asking some of our folks in finance about funding for this. And they said to me, it is the one thing that we've never said no to funding. So I just wanna like name that and then I'm gonna hand it over to Chief Gamir to answer some of the more specifics you had around the number of staff.

Thank you.

Great. Thank you, Councillor Pepén. So yes, there are some cuts to teachers who are coded as bilingual. And I want to start to say that some of those cuts are just based off of the coding of the educators. And some of those educators are not necessarily bilingual, but just coded as bilingual. from our former BPS SEI implementation. But I will say that some of the cuts are bilingual educators. There's two reasons why that we have those cuts. One, the influx of students that we saw in 2024 where we had at the Melnea Cask where we had overflow of migrants coming in at the time and we were trying to figure out

We had to increase our number of Slythe Classrooms at that time. Now we see a decrease in students matriculating into BPS, but also want to state that It's not just the decrease of students matriculating into BPS as multilingual learners or students who are a SLIFE and those teachers who were teachers of those students. were true bilingual educators. But in addition to that, through our comprehensive Review through DESE. We were cited as having students in classrooms that were languishing in there and not having a

We have created, working alongside DESE, clear exit criteria where students who are in this life classroom cannot be there for no more than two years or after they have met a 2.5 proficiency rate on the access, which is the English language acquisition and many more. It created the situation where those teachers weren't needed no longer for those programs. But I do want to stress that students who are currently multilingual learners who are enrolled in those programs or who are in dual language programs are not affected by any of these cuts.

Students will receive services, students will continue, and actually we are rolling out programs from now till 2033. with our programs that we have implemented now with our programs at the Blackstone or the Roberts and also the new Cabo Verde and Crayola program that we're going to create next year at the Frederick. and that will roll out K-1 through sixth grade all the way to 2033.

Thank you so much. I know my time is up. I just want to say thank you for providing that clarity. It's just helpful for me to be able to chat with the parents that reach out to me. I represent the Madahan School and the Sarah Roberts, who are both, Sarah Roberts, a newer one, being a great dual language program. So what I'm gonna do is through Anna White, I'm going to request maybe a follow-up I'm going to go next to Councilor Weber, then followed by Councilor

Thank you, Chair. Well, I guess for Dr. Wright, just a little bit about me and some recent BPS history. I'm a parent of two BPS kids, including one with special needs. My kids went to the Mission Hill School, which is about four years ago, was shut down, not because of enrollment issues, it was because they were serious Thank you. Thank you. and you know one of which was the inclusion model was not really adequately staffed and you know so I'm certain when I hear about the inclusion model like I understand the goals but I know what it can look like If it's not well managed. And so my daughter, my son had left by that point, went to BAA. My daughter was there when it was shut down. She went to the Curley, which is a wonderful landing place for her. But now it's like we're looking at

The budget for next year in the Curleys probably has one of the largest cuts, you know, staffing, and it's about 600,000, I think. and it was originally supposed to be like 1.6 million. So I mean, how are we gonna make sure the inclusion model as we're rolling it out is gonna be working for our kids and we're gonna have those staffing? One second. You want me to start?

Yeah, I really appreciate that question, Councilor Weber. And I think something that I do want to name is there are a lot of different moving parts here, right? Like what we're really talking about is how do we teach every student well? and ensure that they are supported every single day. I think when we get into our April hearings, we'll talk through some of the nuances of budget So I do want to acknowledge that. But I think some of Councilor Culpepper's push on professional learning and teacher readiness, right? I think it is how we utilize data to determine what services and supports and practices are needed. You want me to pause?

No, this is part of, I think, every BPS hearing. There's like, you know, there's some stuff we just, you know, it kind of goes off into... I know we care about these outcomes, but Curly specifically, there was a model With more staffing, they're going to have less staffing. How is that going to work? And you can be specific, I guess. I don't know. I can address that, Councilor Weber.

If you don't mind. So I think it's important, one thing we want to talk about is the comment that was raised about debunking the deficit, right? One thing that we have, I've been utilizing for the last two years and really focused on this year is service mapping, which has allowed us to move away from models that were created that people thought Every school had a different model or a different thought to really focusing on what are the individual needs of our students that school teams came up with that worked with families and the schools to decide this is what this child needs. So through service mapping, we looked at all the individual needs of the students to determine what resources they needed to be allocated to meet those needs. So let me talk about the Curlie quickly.

is historically was an inclusion school, you know, called an inclusion school in which students across the district who had so many minutes on their IEPs were placed at the Curley and it had what was called a 15-5 model. Five special education students, 15 general education students. As the inclusive education plan has rolled out, K-0, K-1, first, second grade, seventh, and parents have choices. The numbers in the currently younger grades are much smaller for students with disabilities. They still may have 25, 26 in the sixth grade because those students are moving up who are in inclusion and those non-IPT grades remain, but they may only have Seven students, I think I'm being, in the first grade, so they no longer need that model in all four of their classes.

Is that in part because there's more inclusion classes across the district so they're not being fed into the curly?

So what's happening are some of the data shows for schools that were not inclusion in the past, They've increased the number of students on IEPs by 9%. That's showing that parents having choice and the ability to choose where they want their child to go to school Nearholm, they don't have to be bussed across the district, is working. And the other thing I want to say about the quality that's slightly different, The Curley numbers are full. Their classroom seats are full. So although they might be losing students with disabilities, parents are still choosing to go to the Curley, and that's a great sign.

Okay, just one more, I don't know if I, how much, one last quick question. This will be short, I think. We heard, I think, from Dr. Dr. Bazile about focus reading instruction. I think during our working session, we were told that there is a phonics component. I can't remember if it's called foundation or if there's some word for it. Can you just explain what we're doing to educate kids on reading and the phonics component?

I think what we want to acknowledge is that focus in isolation does not teach kids phonics. like you have to pair it with foundations. That is the approach the district has in place to support evidence-based practices.

May I also add another response?

Thank you so much for asking that question. And I also want to just piggyback on what our SPED chair, Yves Brazil, talked about in terms of when we talk about service mapping, when we're talking about literacy, when we're talking about reading. Think about it through the lens of multi-tier systems of support, right? And foundations is considered a tier one. We also have explicit phonic We have increased phonemic awareness in terms of using Hagerty and we're focusing on decoding and encoding. And if our students need more intensive support, and the area of reading and literacy then we have more tier three interventions through specialized instruction but also many of our gen ed teachers are also trained as well in Wilson language. So we do have tiered interventions to address Thank you. Thank you. are aligned to the curriculum standards.

So as we look at our pathway and our shifts to this inclusive education plan, those are some of the changes that we're making in order to look at systems of accountability as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair. I'm going to go next to Councilor Louijeune at large and I know that Councilor Culpepper has one more follow-up question that I'm going to let you go before I go so that we can let public testimony actually Began. Councilor Louijeune, you now have the floor.

Thank you. And I want to say thank you to this esteemed panel for being here. I always want to say thank you to Dr. Gamera, to Chief Gamer, I'm always trying to give you a, you know, I think that's God speaking. Yes. But I'm always, you know, Councilor Pepén talked about how the Matterhunt is in his district, and people think I went to the Matterhunt so much so that the people at the table are like, why are you not supporting us? But I just think it's so beautiful, the work that you did at the Matterhunt. Thank you for how you uplift that school and just the incredible model that is for our district. I wanted to just understand the numbers a bit more so my questions aren't going to be Oh, and I want to say welcome to you as well, Dr. Wright. I think this is the second time that we've, and I really enjoy the thoughtfulness and the energy that you're bringing to this work. I think it's really important.

So we know that about a third of our students are English language learners. And then what is the percentage of our students that receive a form of special education?

7% of our students that have a disability are also multilingual learners.

Okay, 7% of our students are both, okay.

Have a disability but are also multilingual learners. So right now we have a total percent of 21% of our students, which we have close to 11,000 students. that have a disability here in Boston Public Schools. And of that 11%, we have 7% of our students are students that also have a disability that are also multilingual learners.

I'm a lawyer, math ain't my best. But 11% of our students have some form of an IEP. Would that be accurate if they're receiving special education?

11,000 students. 11,000. Yeah, that's okay. And 21% of our students are students that have a disability. Yes, that's correct.

Okay. So what percentage of that 21% are English language learners? I think that's a new figure. That's 7%.

I thought 7% was the overlap. That's the combination. So of our 21% of our students that have disabilities, 7% of the 21% are also students that are multilingual learners.

So that's, just to be clear then, that that then is a small percentage. Yes, yes. For the super majority, because I heard different framing earlier, and that's why I wanted to sort of clarify. So the super majority of our students who have some form of special education or disability are not English language learners. Correct. OK. Awesome. Thank you. I appreciate that. And then I want to thank my colleague, Councilor Weber, for uplifting sort of concerns that I've heard from teachers and parents at the Curley. I'm not sure if it's necessarily this hearing. I think, Christine, thank you for all the work that you do. Again, working on a very difficult issue, and I appreciate your assistance. But we've heard some feedback in what I understand and know is a challenging time from students, from staff, and parents at the Curley about a decrease in funding and how that's going to affect the students, something that we hope to uplift.

And I know that there are difficult decisions that need to be made, but I wanted to also uplift the advocacy of those parents It makes me a little bit nervous. Crowley, a school where I know and many of us know that is well-resourced and have a pretty diverse income. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. similar challenges but maybe don't have the parents who are going to shoot us off emails or who are going to send us DMs on social media. So I'd like to find a way for us to figure out the challenges in a real way that other schools and environments are facing. But that may also be a later question. And this is also just a numbers question. And my colleagues have asked it in various ways. Sometimes things are mispositioned when people talk about it, so I just want to clarify.

Special education spending is increasing when external funds are included. I think it's about $475,000, maybe $421,000, but what There's external funds included. It's between $475 and maybe half a billion dollars. And at the same time, BPS is cutting approximately 160 FTEs tied to special education. So it looks like we're spending substantially more on special education while employing fewer people to deliver it. Why does it look that way, unless, for whatever reason, my numbers may be different than the ones you have?

So your question is that based on the spending and with the cuts, your question is that you're stating that BPS is spending more or spending less? Spending more, but having fewer staff. Okay, I think in terms of spending more, let me just unpack it in terms of looking at the needs of our students, right? So as we look at the needs of our students and we also look at our staffing capacity, We recognize that we do have to make sure that we have the resources available to meet the needs of our students. So although enrollment has declined, we still have specialized programs. And I'm not talking about students that are placing out of district. I'm talking about students that are in district. So when we look at the needs of our students and we look at the staffing ratios, then we are identifying and allocating staffing based on those needs. So although we might be spending more, we're also spending more to make sure that we're keeping students in district as opposed to placing them out of district.

So what is that money being spent on? The time went off and we still have public testimony and we have a hard stop because we have a hearing this evening. So if you want to do one follow up, you're more than welcome to.

So can you give me an example then of what that increased funding

I was going to say, Chair, I think this is something that we will go into great detail in April with. I think what we want to double down on You heard Christine talk about service mapping. Paired with the school-based budgeting process, we have positioned ourselves to be able to meet all service needs for the district. Neither of the cuts affect being able to provide services to students.

Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Culpepper, you have a follow-up? Thank you, Madam Chair. Councilor Weber, do you have a follow-up? And then I'm going to waive my time.

Yeah, I wanted to pick up on Councilor Peckin's question about cuts. So there are no special ed FTE cuts, right?

Yes or no. That's how we're going to start answering the questions.

But there are a hundred special ed paraprofessionals being cut. No?

Yes or no? That's the question. What is the number?

A hundred.

I would probably have to revisit the budget to answer exactly to say yes.

But there are cuts. Let's assume I'm right that there are 100. What's the impact, especially with regard to the service mapping, that those 100 cuts are going to have on the special ed program.

So we do have different paraprofessionals. We have paraprofessionals that are school-based, but we also have paraprofessionals that are also one-to-ones. And when we look at the fact that some of our students, as we look at this continuation of services, and we look at putting together criteria in terms of students that need more intensive needs. Some of those numbers may be impacted based also on enrollment. Now in terms of service mapping, Christine can talk through in terms of how We look at the allocation of support staff, either through additional powers and or looking at placements for students based on a service mapping process.

But just ask it. Can we let, wait one second.

Whether those.

Now you can.

Whether the 100 cuts were on the one-to-one or in the general pair of professionals? Yes, we'll make a note of that. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Culpepper, Councilor Weber, you have one follow-up.

Yeah, thank you. We heard from the first panel about transitional bilingual education over SEI. Does anyone want to talk about that as a possibility?

Are you referring to what Dr. Serpa?

Yeah, correct. The SEI model, and I think she said we should be having more transitional bilingual education. That's what I wrote down. I may have... Yes.

Dr. Surfer did reference that our previous, what we call BPS SEI programs were TBE, which were Transitional Bilingual Education programs. They were not. So a transitional bilingual program is implemented where you have a bilingual educator who provides native language support and instruction to the students and start to do a gradual release. I want to state that our students in the BPS SEI classrooms were cohorted by their language. and some of them were cohorted because they were multilingual learners. So you might have had a class of various multilingual learners or you might have had a class that were Haitian speakers, Haitian Creole speakers or Spanish speakers and

Some of the time the teacher may have been a bilingual educator, but sometimes the teacher was not. And so that's where we talk about the coding. Having more transitional bilingual programs is something that we have reviewed and implemented. This year we implemented a transitional bilingual education program at the McKay. What we did was we converted the BPS SEI program that was there and created a transitional bilingual education program for this year for K-2. and students will be in the program for up to two years or an exit criteria of 2.5 on the access. We're also looking to implement, we went through a proposal process. So in order to implement a transitional bilingual education program, you also have to go through a proposal process with DESE.

and we've done that for the McKay program and we have done that to implement a new program at the Ellis. But we can talk about it further more of the feasibility and sustainability of actually being able to implement And so because we're not able to do that at this point, we're ensuring that we're having strong instruction in our inclusion SEI model. with supporting educators through professional development and multiple, like through coaches and other pathways.

Okay, thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilor Weber. We still have folks who are signed up for public testimony and we only have 30 more minutes left with you. I know you all have to leave here at 5, but then we still have to have public testimony, and I still have my esteemed cohort of colleagues who are on the bench. that I want to bring back in. I'm not going to ask too many questions. I'm only going to ask two, and then I'm going to put the rest of my questions. I'm going to put all of my questions on the record, and you get to pick the ones that you feel comfortable Answering and then the rest you I can get submitted just because I want to make sure that my questions get Entered into the record So take notes to see which one and you know what I appreciate you attending the Elliott. Have you been to the homes? I have. Okay, so that would have been a really good example when we're talking about, you know, outcomes. Because the students at the Holmes are very different than the students at the Elliott.

So if we want to talk about that, that would be, I'm saying for me, would be an example that would be like, oh, OK.

Thank you, counselor.

I think you'll get to learn me a little bit more. I'm excited. Yeah, OK. Here are my questions for the record. You get to pick whichever one you want to answer. Okay, so I would like for someone here to walk me through how Boston Public Schools is currently implementing the DOJ, that's the Department of Justice, successor agreement for English language learner students, and what step is the district has taken thus far to strengthen service and supports beyond the baseline legal requirements. We understand that many of the members of the ELL Task Force recently resigned and shared a letter outlining their perspectives Can you share how the district is thinking about community engagement on this issue and what steps are being taken to continue working with families and advocates as you move forward? Can you provide an update

on the inclusive education plan or any successor plan that is guiding this work and share what data or indicators the district is tracking to understand student outcomes since the plan's implementation. What are your student outcome goals for English language learners for this year and next year? And how will the district measure progress towards those goals? I'm also curious, someone here mentioned high quality Student, was that high student quality?

Instructional materials or student experience?

Student experience. So I'd like to know how you are defining that. What does that mean to you? You didn't mention the Horace Mann that also I believe is a dual language program, correct? So just curious about how they fit into the ecosystem. And I'm also curious as we continue to have these conversations We get a lot of calls from parents whose students are on IEPs and they also have door-to-door bus transportation. or need accommodations and there is a lack of coordination it feels like and students are missing hours. And so I'm just curious how you all are thinking of kind of rectifying that.

So because I don't have a lot of time and I want to transition into public testimony and I still have three minutes left, I'd like for you to think about all of those questions, at least answer two or three.

I'll take the DOJ one. So last year we have moved out or we were the Department of Justice has terminated the successor agreement. I will say Two things about that. One, we know what the climate is in terms of supporting multilingual learners in the federal government. They really don't care. So that termination came a little bit from there. Just going to be very transparent about it. But I will say that we do have in writing that we had been working towards Getting away from having to report for the Department of Justice, we had many of the paragraphs that we had to report upon. were no longer needed just because of the support and progress we made, number one. Number two, we are still monitoring.

We have internal monitoring systems that goes beyond and many more. We continue to follow DESE guidelines and aligns with federal guidelines but ours were more rigorous with the DOJ and we still continue to ensure that we provide all of the services I know that is A part for the community to ensure that we are still monitoring because we don't want to get back to where we were before the DOJ. Community engagement is really important to the Office of Multilingual and Multicultural Education.

Is that the second question in regards to community engagement?

Or are you still in DOJ? I thought it was aligned to the DOJ or just for OMME.

No, the question regarding community engagement is specifically around the ELL task force that recently resigned. and they shared a letter outlining their perspectives.

Oh, I could talk a little bit about that as well too. Okay, so let's do that. OMME, our department, is working on our strategic plan. And we have identified some priorities based off of feedback that we have heard from the community. And now we have worked with all of our ELACs, our parent English Language Advisory Councils to get feedback. And we are also having a community listening session tomorrow that does have many different members of the community. and actually tonight we are working with St. Stephen's for a community info session about dual language programs tonight. So there's various outreach and I've also worked, my department has also worked with former EL Task members to create the program at the Quincy.

along with Councilor Flynn, and also worked with another former EL task member to create the Cabo Verde and Criollo program that will be implemented at the Frederick next year.

Great. My time is up. I'm going to do one more question because the rest will just be for the record. But I am curious, I also hear from staff particularly teachers and how they are juggling 101 things. And then we keep asking them to do more with less. And we've heard that the state licensing requirements make it difficult to expand the number of bilingual Teachers. And how can BPS work with the State Department and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to revise or address the licensing requirements to diversify the language skills for teachers? and I also want to advocate on behalf of and actually not just advocate but better understand the inclusion model. It just helped me understand from a workforce development what that looks like. in your perspective. And then those are my two follow-up.

This is my follow-up bonus time.

Go ahead, Kristen. The inclusion?

Yeah.

Sure. So I think that... With regards to inclusion, this is our second year of the rollout. Next year, we will move up the rollout. That will include third and fourth grade. Let me get my numbers right, and 11th grade. Part of that work is that we work around professional development for all educators. They've had an additional 12 hours of professional development that is planned based upon some of the feedback that we've been given. We work closely with the BTU to understand and to make sure that we're aligning it to meet their individual needs. Besides that, schools provide PD. We work with the schools to provide professional development around specially designed instruction and other avenues to support students So there's a variety of things as well as inclusion coaches, inclusion specialists who are going in the model of we're providing professional development, but we're going into schools to help facilitate and make sure it's being carried over.

Thank you. That's all right. I'll deal with it.

I want to say what's really, just really inspiring is the fact that We're providing a continuation of services for our students. We recognize that our students no longer have to leave a school where they have attended because we don't have capacity. So our inclusion model is no longer just a place. It's looking at what we're doing to services. and how we're building capacity within schools to meet the needs of our students.

Thank you. And just because we literally just have 15 minutes left and we still have people who are waiting for public testimony, I want to end at least my portion just in gratitude. I know it is not easy to show up here. For those who have been here with me, you know I am not an easy person to deal with. But I hope you understand that for me, this is deeply rooted in my own Thank you. Thank you. I hope you also always understand that that's the voice that I bring into this chamber because so many parents don't have the luxury or the privilege to have a nanny or to have a job where they can just remotely zoom in or out. So I just want you to know that. The load is heavy and the frustration is high. And so that's what I bring into this chamber. So thank you for your grace.

Thank you for showing up. Sit over there so y'all can listen to the public testimony because I got y'all here until 5 o'clock according to Anna White. Don't be trying to leave here. You ain't done yet. So I'm going to ask you all to come over here. And then I'm going to get... We have two people waiting for public testimony. That's Cheryl Buckman and Liz Togabanevu, okay? Right? Okay, so can we bring in Cheryl and then Liz, and then while I bring, while we listen to public testimony, I'm going to invite you all to close us out, and I, unless my colleagues, you have a closing remark? Because after we get done, we're going to be done. I'm not going to say anything but bye. Okay, so can you turn on Councilor Culpepper's mic so he can get his question read into the record?

Now?

Yes, sir.

It's for Dr. Brazil.

Oh, you want an answer?

Yes.

Oh, well, go ahead, ask it.

I wanted to talk to her about, and she heard Dr. Wright talk about the... evidence-based teaching. I just wanted to get a response from Dr. Brazil based on what she heard.

Okay great so then you can use your time to answer that as part of your But we're not there yet. We're going to go to public testimony, and I'm going to give you all some time to think about your closing remarks after you heard what you heard and close us out. Councilor Weber, do you have any closing remarks? Okay, are you signed up for public testimony? Councilor Culpepper, do you have any closing remarks?

I wanted to thank all of the presenters from the administration and the presenters from the Our community for the information that we heard and for the work that's going into bringing the Boston public school system to be one of the best. I heard Dr. Wright and Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Culpepper.

All right, so we're going to go to our two Zoom public hearings. And sorry that it took us so long to get to you all. But I figured you were in Zoom, so you're in a better situation than some of the folks who are in here. and so while we line them up the goal is for each of you to just kind of like what you heard what you want to leave us with like you have the last word as it should be so We good? Is that work loading, is it broken? I wanna see, does that work? I can't see. What's happening over there? Oh, they're here? Okay, well then, they whoever they are. I can't see that well from all the way over here. You have two minutes. Welcome. Please introduce yourself and you have two minutes.

Are they here? If you're here, we can't hear you.

Can you hear me now?

Oh, yes, we can. Sorry.

Good afternoon, council members. My name is Cheryl Buckman. I am a South Boston resident and a parent to a student at the Ruth Batson Academy and the parent lead for the Dever and Dorchester. We're looking at a budget of over $421 million, nearly a quarter of the entire EPS operating budget. As a taxpayer, I want that money to be well spent. But as a mother and a leader in two different school communities, I want to ensure that every dollar is actually reaching in every classroom. Right now, there is a painful paradox. While spending increases, we're all still seeing the persistent staffing shortages and unfulfilled IEPs. When a position remains unfilled, it isn't just a line item on a spreadsheet. It is a child missing their speech therapy

A student fallen behind in reading or a family forced into a costly out-of-district placement because the city failed to provide the legally required support in district. Throwing money at a systematic leak doesn't fix the leak. We need this audit to understand why a $421 million isn't enough to solve the staffing shortages. How we can shift from reactive, expensive out-of-district placements to sustainable, high quality in-district programming. and mostly, importantly, how we translate these massive investments into actual improved student outcomes. Transparency and accountability are not just bureaucratic buzzwords, but they're the floor of what we owe our most vulnerable students.

I urge this committee to continue the deep dive into those costs Divers, and ensure that the return on investment is measured by the success of students like my son, not just the size of the budget. Thank you.

Thank you, Cheryl. Thank you for your fierce advocacy. I always see you out in these streets. Thank you. Okay, we're going to go on next to Liz. Then you each are going to have like 30 seconds, and then we're moving on to video testimony, and that's how we're closing out. All right, okay.

Liz, go ahead. Hi, good afternoon, Chair Mejia and members of the Boston City Council Committee on Education. My name is Dr. Liz Tanagbanwa. I live in Malden. I am the LATF at Charlestown High School and have taught ESL to multilingual learners with disabilities for almost two decades in Boston. I am multilingual and I have been part of many types of learning communities from K-12. I have seen firsthand how programmatic cuts have harmed multilingual learners and students with IEPs. I'd like to address the proposed budget cuts for Charlestown High School, specifically as they pertain to our impactful co-teaching model, as well as our multilingual teachers of newcomers whose roles have been eliminated. One of the four core components that make up the BPS high quality student experience is rigorous and culturally affirming learning experiences.

to provide this experience in a way that fosters students' sense of belonging, which CHS does better than any other high school in BPS. We must be able to continue building on the success that we have with fully staffed inclusion classes. These cuts undermine our progress that we have proudly made in the last three years. My co-teacher and I, for our sub-separate classes, spend countless hours together planning and preparing to support our multilingual learners who have autism and specific learning disabilities. My co-teacher is an alumna of our school, and she affirms our students' cultures authentically, which allow them to see themselves through our HQIM. Through a translanguaging approach, We are able to dig deeper into our academic content with explicit support. Our work improves students' confidence and validates students' cultural and linguistic identities.

Through our targeted work, I have learned more about serving the students of Boston in the past two years than in the prior 20 combined. In turn, She's told me that I have taught her not only how to better support our students, but I've also instilled a new confidence in her. I've provided her encouragement, which has been especially meaningful because she is a teacher with her own learning disability. CHS is stronger and our students have benefited greatly. As part of our MTSS, we know that 30% of Charlestown's multilingual learners have IEPs. That's 100 students out of our...

We're almost, you're at your time, please.

I'm almost done, can I please? Yes, yes. Okay, thank you. It's critical to have skilled, compassionate, multilingual, humans who can tailor and adjust plans. Boston School Committee, I urge you to rescind the cuts to allow for impactful co-teaching at CHS, as Dr. Edith Brazil expressed. Black teachers ameliorate the school-to-prison pipeline, particularly for Black boys. We heard her say this today, but Black teachers are going to be disproportionately laid off and my co-teacher is one of them. Our school has had a great many successes with this model. Last month at the Boston School Committee virtual budget hearing, I heard Chair Robinson inquire to Superintendent Skipper about these potential cuts to provisional multilingual staff and they are absolutely going to be losing their roles unless these cuts are reversed for Charlestown High School. Thank you all for your time.

Thank you, Liz. Thank you, Liz. and I just learned that we have Jennifer Ward who has been patiently waiting on the Zoom as well. Everybody stop signing up. Like now everybody wants to, no, but actually Jen has been waiting for a long time. It just got flagged to me. So I'm so sorry, Jen, please forgive me.

Thank you very much for including me. My name is Dr. Jennifer Ward, District 5. I am mother of Nico Ward, who I hope you will have an opportunity to see his recorded testimony in his own voice today because it is important to see the students who are directly being affected and harmed by these budget cuts. I have two children on IEPs in Boston Public Schools, one at the O'Brien and one in the Autism Strand sub-separate program at the Joseph Lee K-8. I am an SSC and SPC member at the Lee. The Lee has the largest autism ABA sub-separate strand in the city and it dates back to the 1980s. Our school also has inclusion classrooms and is supposed to be moving towards inclusion. I don't see how we can realistically do this with the current budget, which cuts six inclusion paraprofessionals at the lead. We need more educators and staffing right now, yet they are cutting key student-facing positions that enable our students to access inclusion.

I implore this group to prioritize these learners and restore funding. In fact, do better. Increase positions and support. Our Strand parents are told that their students can't participate in inclusion opportunities because there isn't the staff to do it. Do better, raise the bar, and raise the expectations for our students. Because what I want to see for our students is real inclusion, done right, not a buzzword, not a performative slogan. Full inclusion for those students is appropriate for and meaningful inclusion opportunities for the Strand students. Ultimately, what I want for our students is to be included, to be educated, and then to move to real, meaningful, Thank you very much.

Alright, so, what we're going to do, last 30 seconds, don't try to go over because I will be like, bah, bah, bah. No, but we do have about 12 minutes worth of I just think that it's important for us to ground ourselves again with the folks who started us off. So you're closing the circle. 30 minutes each, I mean 30 seconds each. No, Ryan gotta give you the power to be heard.

In 2022, BPS announced an ambitious plan to create 25 new bilingual programs and we were celebrating. And then the next year that plan just disappeared from the website with no announcement or communication with the community about what was happening. And so while BPS we like to hear the commitment to transitional bilingual and dual language education, in order for the community to trust it, we really need to see it. and that's why we're asking for a specific measurable plan. We wanna know what speed BPS is committed to moving multilingual learners out of SCI classes and into TBE or dual language. So I hope that this is just the beginning of a lot more dialogue that we are going to have. Thank you.

All right, 30 seconds, good job. Okay, here we go, thank you. So I organized my closing comments on the question that you had about the evidence-based professional learning and essentially I just want to share a couple pieces of feedback on each of the different parts so like HQIM, high quality instructional materials. We are also collecting some data but we've heard and many more. also been said that there are a handful of groups of educators that it's not necessarily relevant for, like the ABA teachers, multiple disability teachers, and specialists, just as an example. I had more, but really quick.

Telescope Network is a great PD source. It's a joint effort between BTU and BPS and They're also suffering some cuts, so I think we should invest more in them.

I just want to close by reflecting on what we heard today. We heard that the district is spending more money to keep students in the system, but at the same time we're hearing about cuts to paraprofessionals and staff who are the same ones who are providing services to us students. As a student, I'm confused. How can we say we are investing more in our students while cutting the people that support them every day? No student with a disability can survive without their paraprofessional. or no school that has special education services can operate without a special education director. I don't care what y'all say. There are over 11,000 students with disabilities in BPS. That is a big part of our community. We have to do something. We got enough money. Fix it.

Thank you.

I'd like to just say that walkthroughs are outdated research because it is a moment in time of teaching. It doesn't tell the whole picture. With HQIM, it's giving teachers a toolbox, but without professional development, they don't know how to use it. You can give me a hammer and a wrench I need to have some training in how to use them to build a house or whatever I'm trying to build. Service mapping is compliance driven, it is the floor not the ceiling of instructional excellence. It just says how many minutes, what kind of schedule you need to make sure that students are being provided services, but it has nothing to do with instructional rigor or outcomes. and lastly, a tier one curriculum should address the needs of 80% of the students when focus has to be paired with foundations, but you forgot to mention Hagerty and letters. Three different things, you have a lot of moving parts and no data.

Thank you. Thank you, thank you. And I want to acknowledge that Johnny McGinnis has been here from the BTU, so thank you for being here. Even though you didn't get to talk, I appreciate you. All right, so with that said, I'm not going to close the hearing because we really want to make sure that we end with community voice. You all don't have to stay here, but I wanted to make sure that BPS, now it's 5 o'clock, y'all can leave now, because y'all have a 5 o'clock hard stop, and so... I reached that goal. Y'all can leave because you heard the voices of the people. You can watch the rest online on your way home. So I'll see y'all on these streets maybe. I don't know. Ann could probably coordinate it if y'all really still like me. And if not, that's OK. and you all, thank you so very much. I know Councilor Culpepper was looking for evidence base. Edith, so y'all should exchange contact information.

You got it, okay, great. All right, so thank you all for showing up the way that you do. We're gonna transition to public testimony video. So, thank you. Okay, play the tape. Guys. Thank you.

My name is Nico Ward. I am in seventh grade at Joseph Lee School. My school is losing six inclusion paras. The budget cuts harm me and My classmates, we deserve to be included, thank you.

Muy buenas tardes, mi nombre es Carolina Sotos, vivo en el vecindario de Dorchester y tengo un niño que asiste a la Escuela Pública de Boston. Soy coordinadora del programa para inventos de la organización San Steven en la Escuela Turner Elementary. I speak today as a mother. In my daily work with the family, I hear something very simple but powerful. Thank you for watching! Muchas familias llegan a nuestras escuelas con esperanza, pero también con muchas preguntas. A veces el sistema puede ser difícil de navegar, especialmente cuando se enfrenta a la variedad del idioma o la falta de comunicación. Por eso, esta auditoría de los servicios estudiantiles multilingües de educación especial es importante. Es una oportunidad para asegurarnos de que estos estudiantes reciban

Thank you for watching. y los estudiantes tienen más éxito. Todos queremos lo mismo, que cada estudiante tenga la misma oportunidad y el apoyo para alcanzar su máximo potencial. Muchas gracias.

Buen día. Mi nombre es Annabel Tavares. Soy residente de Dorchester. Soy madre de un estudiante de la Escuela Pública de Boston. y trabajo en la escuela de mi hija como madre mentora gracias al programa San Steven. En el aula, día tras día, yo noto, veo la necesidad que tienen los niños How do they feel when they want to express something? How do they feel when they don't understand when someone is asking for something? También veo la necesidad que tienen los niños con programas de educación especial. El gran apoyo que necesitan. The support that teachers need and the support that their children need to feel comfortable and safe. Ayuda a nuestros niños con su autoestima. Ayuda a que se les desarrolle cognitivamente.

Y también nos ayuda a nosotros como padres a poder expresarnos en nuestro idioma, poder sentirnos seguros. Y cuando vamos a la escuela, sentir que es un lugar seguro para nosotros expresar lo que queremos de nuestros hijos y lo que queremos escuchar cómo se están comportando nuestros hijos. Apoyo firmemente la educación bilingüe y entiendo que cada niño merece sentirse seguro en el aula y con una educación bilingüe van a sentirse con mayor autoestima. Gracias.

Buenos días, mi nombre es Fátima Peña. Y estoy aquí para apoyar a los estudiantes multilingües ya que soy madre mentor en la escuela Trolley Elementary School a través del programa San Steven. And we need to give a lot of support to multilingual students and promote inclusive education since students Que hablan más de dos idiomas, traen consigo cultura, experiencia, conocimiento que enriquece nuestras escuelas y nuestras comunidades. Cada idioma es una fortaleza, no es una barrera y en cuanto a eso he tenido la experiencia que trabajo en una aula And there are parents who can't communicate with their teachers because they don't speak the same language.

Y me dicen que a veces se sienten frustrados porque no pueden ayudar a sus hijos a hacerles las tareas. Necesitamos más, más escuelas multilingües. to give better help to these children. Also, inclusive education means that all children Sin importar el idioma Abilidades o antecedentes que tengan la oportunidad de aprender, crecer y sentirse valorados. Vamos a apoyar más a los estudiantes multilingües. Because through them we are building a stronger classroom and inclusive education. We are going to give more support.

Buenas tardes, mi nombre es Marianne Romero del vecindario de Rosindale. Soy madre mentora en la escuela Hurley a través del programa San Steven. Hoy estoy aquí para contarles mi testimonio como madre. y mujer. Tengo una niña de 10 años que asiste a una escuela bilingüe. El primer idioma de mi niña es el idioma español y ella no domina bien el inglés. But thanks to attending a bilingual school and having teachers who can communicate in their mother tongue, it has become easier and more favorable for them to go to school and learn. I'm also here because I want the school budget for next year

If I were to open more bilingual schools for those children who do not have the opportunity to attend one, depending on the sector they live in, Support programs like San Steven that help us as mothers to get involved more In the education of our children, and not only that, to grow as people, as professionals, helps us to develop, to study either English or a profession. So if that is something that is working for us and is making us grow as people and is opening our eyes and doors to new opportunities,

It is something that should be supported, that should be encouraged to open more programs like this one because it helps us in all of our development.

Hola, mi nombre es Nikioli Perez, resido en la comunidad de Dolchester, y soy madre mentora en la escuela de mi hija a través del programa de mentores San Steven. Tengo una hija que estudia en la escuela Hurley. Y hoy estoy aquí para hablar desde mi experiencia como madre y como mentora. Cuando mi hija empezó en la escuela, tenía un IP porque no dominaba el idioma inglés. Como madre, eso me preocupaba profundamente. I was afraid that this would become a barrier to their learning and self-esteem. However, thanks to the bilingual program of the Herley School, In just three months my daughter was able to learn English without losing our mother tongue. Today she is a safer and happier girl with more confidence in herself. También quiero compartir lo que veo cada día en el salón de clases donde trabajo. Hay un niño que llegó sin hablar el idioma.

Gracias a que esas clases se imparten tanto en inglés como en español, Hoy ese niño ya comprende el idioma y ha comenzado a comunicarse. Ver ese progreso nos recuerda que cuando apoyamos a nuestros estudiantes en su idioma, les damos oportunidad de crecer y triunfar. Por estas razones les pido de todo corazón que continúen asignando presupuesto para fortalecer y expandir las escuelas bilingües. A estos programas no solo enseñan idiomas, abren puertas, fortalecen identidades y apoyan a familias enteras. Como dice el dicho, el que habla dos idiomas vale por dos.

Buenas tardes, mi nombre es Doris Tavares, soy madre mentora de un estudiante de la escuela Hurley. Y hoy hablo desde mi experiencia dentro del salón de clases como madre comprometida con el éxito de todos nuestros estudiantes. He visto de primera... Mano el gran esfuerzo de nuestros maestros. Sin embargo, también he sido testigo de los desafíos que enfrentan cuando no cuentan con suficiente personal de apoyo. En varios salones, el número de estudiantes es alto y muchos niños necesitan atención individualizada, apoyo académico, conductual y emocional. Cuando no hay suficientes paraprofesionales o profesionales uno a uno

El maestro debe dividir su atención y los estudiantes que más apoyo necesitan pueden quedarse atrás. No es falta de compromiso, es falta de recursos. La inclusión real requiere inversión real. Si queremos que todos los estudiantes tengan éxito, necesitamos más para profesionales en los salones. Más Profesionales Uno a Uno, Tutorías y Clases de Refuerzo.

Hola, mi nombre es Jessica Oyer, soy del vecindario de Dolchester. Soy madre mentora a la escuela que mis hijos asisten, que es la Hurley School. I work with sixth grader students and through my experience I have seen the importance of being bilingual. This is the communication between schools and families. It helps students feel included and proud of their identity. Y motiva a los padres a involucrarse más en la educación de sus hijos Ser bilingüe no es solo aprender un idioma más, sino aprender a respetar a otras culturas y crecer juntos como comunidad. Por eso considero que el programa bilingüe es muy importante para el éxito de nuestros estudiantes. Gracias

Buenas tardes, mi nombre es Kaira Amador. Tengo mis niños en las escuelas públicas de Boston y este video es porque quiero expresar mi apoyo a la auditoría de los Servicios para Estudiantes Multilingües y Estudiantes de Educación Especial. Esta revisión es muy importante porque nos permite entender that our students are really receiving the support they need to succeed. In our schools, there are many families who trust the school system so that their children receive a fair education. Con los recursos adecuados y con los maestros preparados para apoyar sus necesidades. Pero también sabemos que muchas veces las familias enfrentan barreras de idioma, de información o de acceso.

Por este medio, quiero mostrar mi apoyo para que tomen en cuenta esta decisión y esto que es tan importante para nuestra familia bilingüe y los niños con necesidades especiales. Muchas gracias.

Buenas tardes, concejales de la ciudad de Boston. Mi nombre es Denise Caraballo. Tengo tres niños. Vivo en la ciudad de Rosberry. Dos de mis niños llevan un plan individualizado. y estoy aquí para apoyar y testificar sobre la educación bilingüe en los estudiantes. Mi testimonio es dedicado, va a ser referido hacia mi niño de 7 años. La lengua materna en mi hogar es español, but so far he has not received El apoyo ya que todo lo que habla es inglés. Él se ha sentido frustrado, un poco tímido en algunas actividades, no se puede expresar con sus familiares porque ahora mismo todo lo que él habla es inglés. Yo misma tengo muchas dificultades en la casa ya que cada vez que le doy una instrucción, él se queda como en el limbo.

Me gustaría que en la posición que ustedes están abogaran un poquito más porque haya más escuelas bilingües para que los niños no pierdan su lengua materna. Asi como tenemos buenas universidades, buenos hospitales, me gustaría que ustedes abogen por más escuelas. Yo he tratado por todos los medios de que mi niño entre a una escuela bilingüe. Se me ha sido muy difícil. Estoy en una lista de espera muy extensa, tanto en la Hurley como en Hernández. Entonces, ¿a qué me lleva esto? to have to wait and keep fighting a little more. I try to make him speak a little bit of Spanish at home, but he says he doesn't understand. In the school, they only speak English. All the communication they have with their friends. In my house, they don't speak English, only Spanish. So I come here so that all of you can give a hand, because here in Boston we have countless

I also work as a parent-mentor at the Trotter School and I see the difficulties, how there are children who are late, who are frustrated, who cry. O sea que no soy yo sola la que está viviendo esta situación. Son otros padres también. Muchas gracias por todo. Espero que tomen en cuenta mi testimonio y que en el día de mañana podamos tener más escuelas bilingüe.

Muy buenas tardes, mi nombre es Natalie Mate. Soy madre de tres hijos. Actualmente vivo en Marapan y pertenezco a la Fundación San Steven. Trabajo en la Blackstone School como madre mentora. I'm here to talk about the importance of bilingual education in our schools. Mi hija está en el grado sexto en la escuela Blackstone y es una escuela no bilingüe, por lo cual a ella se le ha dificultado mucho el aprender el inglés, por lo que no tiene su idioma natal. A pesar de todo el proceso que hemos tenido, ella habla un poco inglés. As a mother, I know that this is very important because our children are not only learning a new language, but they are also building their new identity and their future.

He visto que las escuelas bilingües ayudan a los niños a sentirse más seguros, incluidos y capaces de aprender. Sin embargo, estoy preocupada por mi hijo de tres años que no he podido I haven't been able to find a school that has bilingual education, so the ones that are offering me don't have a bilingual education. I know this is a reality for many families in our community, and our children deserve to learn English, but they also need to maintain their language and culture. Nuestros niños merecen aprender y tener éxito sin perder quienes son. Muchas gracias por escucharme.

Buenas tardes, miembros del Ciri Concilio. Mi nombre es Dora Sandoval. Vivo en la comunidad de Roxbury. Soy madre de tres hijos. Uno de ellos actualmente está cursando el tercer grado en la escuela Hurley, una de las escuelas bilingües que hay aquí en Boston. Mis otros dos hijos son ya adultos. Uno tiene 17 y la otra 25. Y trabajan apoyando a nuestra comunidad. Esto me hace sentir muy orgullosa porque nunca perdieron el idioma materno. And being bilingual has helped them to connect more with the people in our community. That is why I firmly believe that bilingualism is very important for the future of our children. No estamos aquí imponiendo nada.

Estamos aquí porque queremos aprender, integrarnos y ser parte de las oportunidades de este país dentro de una comunidad diversa. Hoy estoy aquí para pedir una oportunidad para nuestros estudiantes. Me gustaría que consideraran A plan to extend more bilingual schools, educational support programs for parents of English-speaking students, and full support for students of diverse needs. nuestros estudiantes merecen tener todas las oportunidades para aprender, crecer y tener éxito. Cuando apoyan a la educación bilingüe, no solo están apoyando a los estudiantes, están fortaleciendo el futuro de nuestra comunidad. Gracias por escucharme y les deseo feliz tarde.

Ryan, we got an email from somebody who's saying that they wanted to sign up for public testimony. Is that true? Yes. Councilor, I am never done with you.

You're going to be mine forever. But give me a minute. I'm trying to... Do you want to sign up for education or the operating... So you sent an email to me.

I was on camera the whole entire time. Hello public! This hearing on docket that I on docket 0276 is now adjourned.