As the School Committee prepares to vote on a new superintendent Wednesday night, many educators, parents, and community activists are coalescing around one candidate: Brenda Cassellius, a former Minnesota commissioner of education whom they describe as a consensus builder with a strong commitment to remedying educational inequities.
In a system that has faced one public uproar after another, including former superintendent Tommy Chang’s abrupt resignation last summer, many supporters of Cassellius said she represents the greatest hope of healing bruised relationships between the School Department and its educators, parents, students, and community organizers.
“Her openness to engaging and responding to Boston Public School families was really refreshing,” said Travis Marshall, whose children attend Bates Elementary School and who is a member of Quality Education for Every Student, a grassroots parents group. “Those families are critical [to the system], and their voices have been shut out of decisions lately. It’s critical to have someone who came out in the beginning and said she wanted to build trust with the communities that BPS serves.”