AN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM THAT WORKS

*Ensure that Boston Schools undergo a complete overhaul. With a School department budget more than the Police and Fire departments combined, a budget that consumes about one-third of all revenue taken in by the city, current monies are not being spent wisely on our children.

I propose elimination of the current busing program and implementation of a home intervention program for public school students to ensure that MCAS standards will be met. Education does indeed begin at home and the school department needs to focus on the home and the family so that we can have an educated citizenry.

As one part of this overhaul I propose to support those capable parents who wish to homeschool their children.

The problems faced by Boston schools are clear. One need only look at Newton which spends less than $10,000 per student while Boston spends well over $12,000. Yet, Newton ranks near the top of MCAS and Boston is near the bottom. Throwing more money at the schools is not a solution.

The basis behind forced integration in Boston has evaporated as white parents voted with their feet. The school system had 100,000 students in pre-busing days but less than 50,000. today. The experiment to create a multi-racial school system has failed as the public schools have become overwhelmingly non-white. It's time to revisit the idea that "there is no reason to think that black students cannot learn as well when surrounded by members of their own race as when they are in an integrated environment".

Boston Schools' audio