Mejia seeks a hearing on how an elected School Committee would work in Boston

Who should run Boston Public Schools? City Councilor Julia Mejia (at-large) wants the City Council to take up the question again.

Mejia filed an order for a hearing on "how to best implement an elected Boston School Committee" (docket 2044). It is on the agenda for the council's Wednesday, Oct. 28 meeting.

The School Committee sets district policy, hires the superintendent and votes on the school budget, so how its members are chosen shapes what happens in every classroom. Today, all seven voting members are appointed by the mayor.

What the order asks

The order says the council "is considering reorganizing" the School Committee into an elected body. It argues that any change should do more than expand democracy: it should also improve how the district delivers services, runs programs and engages families. It asks the appropriate committee to examine how an elected board could do that, and invites Boston Public Schools, the School Committee, educators, advocates, families and students to testify.

Mejia is the only sponsor listed so far. Other councilors often add their names when an order is introduced.

The appointed seats now open

The order arrives while the city is filling the appointed board. On Oct. 16 the city opened applications for two four-year seats whose terms expire in January. Applications are due Nov. 13. A 13-member nominating panel of parents, educators and others reviews applicants and recommends candidates, and the mayor appoints from that list. Interviews are set for Dec. 1 to 3, and new members start in January 2027.

How Boston got here

In November 2021, nearly 80% of Boston voters supported an elected School Committee in a nonbinding ballot question, GBH News reported. On Feb. 15, 2023, the council voted 7-5, with one councilor voting present, for a home rule petition to make the switch. Mayor Michelle Wu vetoed it two days later, writing that she could not support changes that would "compromise our ability to stabilize and support the Boston Public Schools," according to GBH.

What our records show

Mejia chairs the council's Education Committee, as she noted when opening its Oct. 13 hearing (watch at 4:51), and she has returned to the governance question several times this year:

• Feb. 4: Arguing for her committee to review the school budget, Mejia said the council is the closest thing to a check on the School Committee because "we don't have an elected school committee we have an appointed one" (watch at 1:00:34).
• Feb. 11: During a debate on ranked choice voting, City Councilor Ed Flynn noted that residents had called for an elected School Committee in a vote he put at about 80%, and said the city had not acted on it (watch at 2:45:54).
• June 3: During the debate on the school budget, Mejia said her office had worked with advocates on an elected committee and that the mayor rejected the petition. She said 99.2% of the appointed committee's votes had sided with the administration and superintendent (watch at 2:48:11). We did not independently verify that figure.

The council's earlier petition was filed in the previous term. Any new version would need to be filed, pass the council and be signed by the mayor before going to the State House.

What's next

New hearing orders are usually referred to a committee at the meeting where they are introduced. Once a hearing is scheduled, it will appear on the city's public notices page, and video and transcripts will follow on our meetings page. School Committee applications are due Nov. 13.