Newsletter Signup
Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com
Efforts to expand Mayor Wu’s free museum program blocked on council, for now
Two councilors praised Mayor Wu's program to offer free admissions, but said it unnecessarily excludes students not in Boston Public Schools.
Two members of City Council are hoping to expand a program that offers free museum admissions to Boston Public Schools students, but their efforts to get the rest of the body on board were stymied during Wednesday’s meeting.
Councilors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy introduced a resolution to expand the initiative, first announced by Mayor Michelle Wu during her State of the City address in January. Flynn and Murphy praised the idea, but have been critical of the fact that it is limited to BPS students. They made the case that the program unnecessarily excludes children who live in Boston but do not attend Boston’s public schools, like charter school and METCO students — many of whom are students of color or from low-income households.
Advertisement:
“We 100% support the mayor’s proposal, but we want to open it up to give every child the same opportunity to go to some of these exciting museums,” Flynn said during the meeting. “We want to ensure that this program gives every child in Boston the opportunity to learn and to be excited about the arts and culture.”
Councilor Sharon Durkan, who was endorsed by Wu, objected to a vote on the resolution. This automatically sent it to a committee, and a vote did not take place.
“This merits more of a conversation,” Durkan said, highlighting the fact that the program is still a pilot.
Advertisement:
Council President Ruthzee Louijeune chose to send it to the education committee, and said that she would “love” to find out more about how the program could be expanded. However, no councilors joined Flynn and Murphy in signing onto the resolution.
The program kicked off earlier this month and is set to run through August on the first and second Sunday of each month. It offers BPS students and up to three of their family members the chance to attend various cultural institutions for no cost. The six participating institutions are the Boston Children’s Museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Science, the New England Aquarium, and the Franklin Park Zoo.
The Wu administration said in the initial announcement that it would work with the institutions to publicize the program, track attendance, and “develop plans to extend and expand” the pilot. Officials also teased a community engagement process in the coming months to create a permanent name for the program. Flynn and Murphy floated the name “Sundays for All” in their resolution.
Wu’s office has not shared any details on a possible expansion. The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Advertisement:
MassGOP Chairwoman Amy Carnevale pushed for an expansion earlier this month.
“Just as families in non-charter school systems face financial struggles limiting access to these museums, so do many charter school families. It’s worth noting that charter schools are public schools. The decision to exclude charter school kids seems politically motivated,” she said in a statement.
There are around 13,000 Boston children attending charter schools, almost 7,000 attending parochial or private schools, more than 3,000 attending METCO programs in other districts, and 273 being homeschooled, according to the resolution. There are more than 45,700 students in the BPS system.
Many of the students not being offered free admission are first-generation immigrants, according to the resolution. More than 80% of Boston’s charter school students are people of color, and more than 70% of students come from low-income households.
After it became clear that the resolution would be sent to a committee, Flynn asked his colleagues to facilitate a hearing quickly.
“The longer we wait, the less opportunity there is for poor kids from Boston to attend one of these fine museums,” Flynn said. “Let’s give them the same opportunity as every other family does. Why are they being penalized?”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com