Boston school reform vote slated

Boston school reform vote slated

By Associated Press  |   Wednesday, December 15, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

BOSTON -- The Boston School Committee is to vote on plans to plug a projected $63 million budget deficit over the next fiscal year and improve the quality of academic programs.

The restructuring plan is part of Superintendent Carol Johnson’s efforts to eliminate budget and performance gaps.

Spokesman Matthew Wilder says plans to close nine schools and merge eight others into four will save $10 million.

The initiative also seeks to extend the school day, launch a teacher evaluation system tied to performance and link salaries and benefits to student results.

The reforms also seeks to cut the more than $300,000 in daily transportation costs and 5,600 empty seats that cost $20 million spent annually.

The school committee is scheduled to vote on the plans Wednesday evening.

Boston has 135 public schools, with 56,340 students.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1303294