Dear Friends,

To date, over 7,000 Bostonians have signed our petition in support of the Quality Choice Plan. Thank you for everything you have done to make this possible.

The External Advisory Committee on Student Assignment (EAC) will make its final recommendation for a new student assignment plan to Superintendent Johnson in January.

Representatives Linda Dorcena Forry, Russell Holmes, Nick Collins and Ed Coppinger and Councilor Matt O’Malley and I are pleased that some key elements of the Quality Choice Plan are reflected in the models under consideration. The External Advisory Committee has demonstrated creativity and leadership by moving away from zone-based assignment, and by including parent compacting and magnet schools in their discussions.

There are still important pieces that we need to continue to call for in the final plan. These include:

• A guaranteed K2 seat at a school close to home. If families continue to receive "unassigned" notices and wait list numbers, assignment reform will be incomplete. If families are given a list of schools, they must be guaranteed a seat at one of those schools.
• Sibling grandfathering. Families need to be able to keep their children together in one school if that is their choice.
• Magnet schools that provide new dual-language and inclusion programs across the city. This is one way to address the broader challenge of providing predictable high-quality options for our English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities.
• Programmatic interventions to improve quality at our highest need schools. Any final proposal must include a comprehensive plan to improve under-performing schools.

I hope I can count on your continued support to ensure that the final plan provides comprehensive assignment reform that ensures predictability and high quality for all of our children.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions or concerns about the process, or if I can be helpful on any other issue.

Sincerely,

John

John R. Connolly
Boston City Councilor At-Large
www.ConnollyForBoston.com