Politics

Mayor Wu vetoes push for elected school committee in Boston

Wu said she believes a "dramatic overhaul" of the school committee would "detract from the essential work ahead.”

Elementary school children look out the windows of a Boston Public Schools bus. David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe, File

February 21, 2023

2 minutes to read

Mayor Michelle Wu has vetoed a proposal to make the Boston School Committee an elected body, turning down an overhaul that nearly 80% of the city’s voters supported in a non-binding 2021 ballot question.

“I deeply respect that the proponents of this proposal are motivated by a commitment to supporting Boston’s young people — a commitment I share with urgency,” Wu wrote in a letter to the city council on Friday. “Respectfully, I cannot support legislative changes that would compromise our ability to stabilize and support the Boston Public Schools during this critical period.”

School Committee overhaul

Days prior, the city council voted by a slim 7-5-1 margin to advance a bill that would turn the committee — whose members are presently appointed by the mayor — into a 13-seat elected board. To go into effect, the proposal needed approval from Wu, the state Legislature, and Gov. Maura Healey.

However, the bill faced an uphill battle from the start.

Wu had previously voiced support for a hybrid model, where some members are appointed and others elected. However, during an appearance on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” last week, she asserted that Boston should focus on stability in its schools.

She reiterated her position in Friday’s letter, emphasizing that Boston Public Schools is “on the cusp of the kind of transformative change that our students, families, and educators have been demanding for decades.”

Wu continued: “I am determined to sustain this momentum, and I believe that a dramatic overhaul of our selection process for the Boston School Committee would detract from the essential work ahead.”

The city has had a mayor-appointed school committee for more than 30 years, following a 1991 home-rule petition. Boston’s is the only non-elected school board in the state.

Bill co-sponsor Councilor Ricardo Arroyo called Wu’s veto “disappointing,” noting overwhelming support for a school committee overhaul among city council members, even those who voted against the home-rule petition.

“I know all of us, the Mayor included, are united in making our public schools the best in the country and I do believe a governing change to the School Committee would help us get closer to that goal while empowering our school families and stakeholders,” Arroyo said in a statement.

Wu’s office confirmed that the mayor will be signing a separate home-rule petition to give student representatives on the school committee voting power. That measure passed in the city council last week by a vote of 11-2.