“I’m not satisfied with the progress,” Walsh said Thursday during his speech at the Boston Municipal Research Bureau’s annual meeting. “It’s been strong in some areas, but too slow in others. So, we’re going to keep working at it, and we’re going to keep putting students first.”
Walsh discussed city plans to invest $1.14 billion into Boston Public Schools this year, the most ever from the city, which he says will help sustain progress toward universal prekindergarten programs, support at-risk high school students and expand engagement services.
Critics, however, have voiced concerns about the budget proposal and its allocations, specifically as it pertains to minority-led schools. As the Herald reported in February, education advocates told School Committee members at a previous meeting that the budget mostly addresses teacher raises and that kids were being left behind.
“You are hurting the kids who are already disadvantaged,” said Robert Jenkins, a member of Generations Inc., a nonprofit focused on improving literacy skills for young children, who said his organization will no longer be able to work with students at Shaw Elementary under the new budget. “When it comes down to it, it’s about our students, especially our students who don’t get the same equity that other kids do.”