Boston’s school committee is scheduled to decide Wednesday night who should head Boston Public Schools. Committee members will choose from three candidates who offer different experiences, visions for the job and temperaments, from a candid, no-nonsense educator to more conciliatory and flexible policymakers.
Based on hours of interviews, here’s a review of their performance, in the order they appeared before the public.
Marie Izquierdo
Of all the candidates, Izquierdo was the most critical of Boston Public Schools and of Massachusetts education policy. On the district’s inconsistent — and, in many cases, easier — graduation requirements in its high schools, Izquierdo scoffed: “When I tell friends and colleagues that schools in Boston have different graduation requirements, they’re dummified.”
When talking about the English-only law that until recently banned bilingual education in Massachusetts schools, Izquierdo said, “That’s criminal.”
Izquierdo didn’t hold back her opinions.
Her criticism may say something about Izquierdo’s personality and may be impolitic, but it could also reflect genuine shock about the way things are done in Boston, especially compared to Miami-Dade County Public Schools, where she’s spent her entire career. In the eyes of school improvement experts, Miami-Dade County is doing a lot of things right and, as chief academic officer, Izquierdo gets credit for some of it.