Murray’s aim with this new department is to help more black and Latino students meet academic standards. He said, “I’m interested in outcomes, and I think we need to look at what creates the best outcomes.”
The push to create those outcomes, however, needs to come from our state Legislature. With the city taking over more of the teaching of its students — especially with two competing ballot measures for pre-K funding in this November’s general election — state lawmakers have even less motivation to pay for basic education.
Last Thursday, Sept. 11, the state Supreme Court held the Legislature in contempt for not fully funding public education. Though the ruling came in January that their inaction was “constitutionally inadequate,” lawmakers weren’t compelled to cross party lines to come up with money for the most basic of education necessities, like school supplies, operation costs and school buses.
It’s improbable the threat of fines, the revocation of tax exemptions or even the rewriting of a new budget will convince them that it’s an urgent matter since they haven’t been able to develop a bipartisan plan since the 2012 McCleary decision. And with the court’s order, the justices still gave the Legislature until the end of the 2015 session before sanctions would be issued.
At this rate, local jurisdictions will have no choice but to take over public schools, too, for any of our state’s students to succeed.