September Board of Education: opening remarks and new members

The agenda is here.
Prior to the meeting, two new members were sworn in: Martin West, associate professor of education at Harvard Graduate School of Education, who also has an association with the Brookings Institute; and Amanda Fernandez, CEO of Latinos for Education, who previously worked with Teach for America, and had an association with the Bridgespan Group. James Morton has been reappointed for a second term.



Morton calls the meeting to order; all present save Katherine Craven (and Paul Sagan, who is in via video from Budapest).
Acknowledges Penny Noyce, who served a single term starting in 2012.

Fernandez: proud to have a voice to represent our most vulnerable students, including our Latino student
West: aligning our work with evidence of what works and what doesn't work, while recognizing that evidence doesn't always tell us all we need to know. Parent of two students in the Newton public schools

Sagan: welcomes new members, congratulates Morton on his reappointment
congratulations Baker on "appointments in a timely manner to allow critical work to go forward" including appointment of new commissioner
first time with remote attendance; thanks staff for setting it up
"will do my best to address the issues that have come up with my personal activities this month"
UPDATE: Sagan's seven page statement (which he read) has been shared by WBUR's Meghna Chakrabarti here.
best public school system in the country: work of many people
many schools lead the nation; we know that isn't true
"much of our work is about closing the stubborn achievement gaps that have persisted too long"
sorry that actions from my personal life have caused a distraction
about building best public schools in the Commonwealth
"we do not decide how many charter schools we have in Massachusetts"
"dedicated supporter of all public schools in Massachusetts"
"believe charter schools are part of the solution to closing the achievement gap"
"focused on work to maintaining"
"making decisions to benefit parents and families"
not required to abandon personal opinions in serving
"that includes groups that support charter schools...knew well in advance of serving"
"their disclosure responsibilities is" their business
sought advice from ethics commission on donation prior to donation; filed a disclosure with the Governor in 2016 (for all?)
received an opinion from ethics commission did not bar me from contributing to any political campaign or any advocacy group
written disclosure to Governor Baker prior to any action before the Board related to cap
advising that legal staff available to all Board members for filing disclosure funds
"I did give careful consideration to such a disclosure...I decided not to...I thought if I went ahead and announced disclosure" as he thought that others would accuse him of using his position to advocate for cap lift
extended defense here of charter schools as public schools
"just want to make sure everyone understands we're unpaid volunteers"
"Personally, I come from the business world...I keep that separate" from work on Board
Fortunate to serve, fortunate to have more than needs "deep moral obligation" to give funds away
Board members have diverse opinions; "a great strength for the Board and the public that we serve"
take seriously the oath he took, and all took
"fairly, impartially, and in the best interest of students"


Wulfson: congratulates new members
working through US Ed and Chief State School Officers, seeing what assistance we can provide to those impacted from hurricanes
"expecting with close connections between our state and Puerto Rice" to see impacts
Moriarty "escalating humanitarian crisis...anything we can do to mitigate that is going to be immensely important"
update on lawsuit on translation: seeing if there can be a narrowing of the issues in the case
charter authorizing scheduling
Press release yesterday: four charters initially, two groups moving to application stage
Equity Lab School of Lynn
Phoenix Lawrence
applications by November first
vote in the spring
some discussion here of Horace Manns and their renewals

Peyser: another round of congratulations...
thanks Paul for his comments this morning, transparency, publicly
"Paul did not accept this position to support charter schools"

Public comment:
"all the issues you talk about are vitally important...often talk about the downstream issues"
"what are the individual student's need"
require students to do work because of their age, not because of their need
Cambridge parent: advanced learning
students from disadvantaged backgroups not identified as advanced learning
"rely on miracles to be identified"
"stereotypes and misconceptions" about giftedness
"the excellence gap"
another: not enough respondents in survey of gifted
"we're going to put our money towards the MCAS because that's where our money comes from"
that isn't where the money comes from
"brains are malleable...and they lose that potential"
"the Commonwealth is being elitist by not providing" services to gifted students

MSAA new joint school administrators association: K-12 now one association
they're on twitter here

Tim Nicolette (new) head of the Mass Charter School Assocation
worked from Boston Public Schools and UP network
"continue to advocate for improvements for public education for all students
includes FBRC
independence of charter schools and supporting district schools that wish to do likewise
"continue to defend this Board as an authorizer"

Mary Ann Stewart asks about grant on best practices, all of which has gone to charter schools
how are programs being disseminated
Cliff Chuang: "has to be awarded to the charter partner" per federal requirement