​

www.ElectTheBSC.org

@ElectTheBSC

FOLLOW US:

JOIN US:

Boston is the ONLY municipality in the Commonwealth that cannot elect its own school committee

@ElectTheBSC

Question 3 is a NONBINDING advisory referendum that reads:

@ElectTheBSC

Recent polling shows that voters are ready to bring democracy back to the Boston School Committee

@ElectTheBSC

New poll published on October 19, 2021 found that 69% of likely voters want to restore an elected school committee

Suffolk/Boston Globe/NBC10 poll of likely voters 10/16-10/17

​

• For decades, parents, education, civil & voting rights activists have been raising concerns about the appointed governance structure
• Widespread public dissatisfaction with stakeholders’ ability to hold the school committee accountable for
• BuildBPS, School Closures, Jackson Mann, McCormack...
• Exam schools & start times animated another segment

Why the time is NOW to reclaim our right to vote?

​

• Significant public interest in making this change
• Recent Globe/Suffolk poll, only 6% of voters supported the current appointed school committee structure.
• A ballot question will give voters the opportunity to say so officially.
• Why wait any longer for the voters’ voice to be heard & action to be taken by our city government?

How did we lose the right to vote for our school committee?

• Appointed school committees were part of a conservative nationwide backlash to the “disruption” of desegregation
• In 1989, Mayor Flynn submitted a nonbinding ballot question to change from elected to appointed
• Ballot question for an appointed board passed by a razor-thin margin of 1.5%, but lost resoundingly in Boston’s communities of color
• In July 1991, Governor Bill Weld signed the home-rule petition that abolished the elected school committee

June 1991

Mayor Flynn changed his mind about the appointed school committee

only a year and a half after they took office

"Despite the accomplishments of the appointed board, I feel compelled to acknowledge that the loss of the vote for School Committee members has remained a bone in the throat of many Bostonians. The appointed board has done what it had to do...It has accomplished a clean break with the past.”

​

Mayor Ray Flynn, July 1993

July 1993

But what about “The Bad Old Days” of the Boston School Committee?

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

1969: Louise Day Hicks leaves the Boston School Committee to run for City Council

1992

1st seven member appointed BSC sworn in

But what about “The Bad Old Days” of the Boston School Committee?

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

1969: Louise Day Hicks leaves the Boston School Committee to run for City Council

1977:

John D. O’Bryant elected to BSC;

1st Black Bostonian to serve on the board since 1900

1974: Garrity orders Boston to desegregate

1963:

NAACP & Black Freedom movement in Boston stage walk-outs, boycotts, and sit-ins

1981: 2 ballot questions pass to change BSC & BCC to 9 elected by district & 4 at-large; Jean McGuire (1st Black woman) elected to BSC

​

1983:

3 Blacks/1 Afro-Latina are elected to BSC; seen as a major victory by communities of color & a positive outcome of desegregation

1985:

The most diverse BSC in Boston’s history

selects 1st Black Superintendent of BPS

1989:

Mayor Flynn submits ballot question to dissolve elected BSC

1991:

Last elected

BSC selects 1st Black woman as

BPS superintendent

1992

1st seven member appointed BSC sworn in

But what about “The Bad Old Days” of the Boston School Committee?

Our Steering Committee:

• Healthy Food for Boston Schools Organizing Network
• JP Progressives
• Mass Alliance
• Massachusetts Asian American Educators Alliance
• Mijente Boston Asamblea
• NAACP Boston Branch
• Progressive West Roxbury/Roslindale
• Quality Education for Every Student (QUEST)

• Black Educators' Alliance of Massachusetts (BEAM)
• Black Teachers Matter, Inc.
• Boston Coalition for Education Equity
• Boston Education Justice Alliance (BEJA)
• Boston Teachers Union (BTU)
• Citizens for Public Schools
• Collaborative Leadership Parent Action Network (CPLAN)

WHO WE ARE:

• We will continue to advocate for a democratically-elected school committee
• City councilors submitted a home rule petition in August 2021 to change the governance structure of the Boston School Committee
• The home rule petition is intended to be a boilerplate for the public discussion following the ballot referendum, and a mechanism for executing the voters’ will on this issue

What happens after we win?

• Tell your friends & neighbors to vote YES on Question 3
• Sign up for updates and volunteer opportunities at:

​

• Follow us on social media and help amplify our message
• DONATE on our website

Opportunities to get involved with the campaign

www.ElectTheBSC.org

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!

Reach out if you have questions:

ElectTheBSC@gmail.com

​

www.ElectTheBSC.org

@ElectTheBSC

FOLLOW US:

JOIN US: