Walsh joins School Committee meeting to chat about exam schools admissions. Uses phrase "one year" repeatedly.
"I know there’s a lot of passion around this. I want people to understand this is a situation we have not faced since 1918."

#bpschat

Says global pandemic makes administering the test unsafe:

"Under these conditions it does not make since to bring thousands of kids into Boston School buildings."

More than 180 people have signed up for public comment. @KrissyCabbage notes that that's six hours of public comment.
A strong current of civic engagement has taken hold in Boston. At least in some Boston neighborhoods...

Now Monica Roberts is presenting on the admissions methodology which is just for one year, she reminded us.

I imagine parents are eager to weigh in. I doubt there are many who haven't already formed an opinion on this.

Monica addresses "misinformation" around exam school access under the one-year plan.

"Zip codes are not limited to a specific number of seats at each exam school," her slide reads.

Tanisha Sullivan reads a letter from Ibram Kendi, Addressed to members of the School Committee

Says plan will close racial and economic gaps. "That’s how we should assess policies."

Calls proposal “anit-racist”

Kendi says he and his wife could afford expensive test prep classes, but most BPS students can't.

Compares test prep to NFL teams that game the system for an unfair advantage.

Says standardized tests were first created by eugenicists who believed that blacks were inherently intellectually inferior to whites.

Tanisha Sullivan says she's emotional:
"Even though were talking about a one-year proposal, what we do… tonight will be a defining moment for the city."

Sullivan:
“Although I firmly believe we are on the right path, every time we talk about expanding equity, it’s a fight. Even… when we’re in the middle of a global health pandemic.”

Says she’s heard horrendous rhetoric in past few weeks.

“It’s triggering for many of us.”

I have a Zoom cat eating my headphones cord.

Former Latin School headmaster Michael Contempasis makes a case for integration:

“We have seen over the years that having students of different backgrounds interchanging on a daily basis far improves what we as educators are able to do.”

Contempasis:

"I would strongly urge the school committee to adopt the recommendations brought together."

Suggests the tutoring Dr. Kendi referenced should be available to all students in the district.

In the above tweet, Contempasis said the district should make provide the same level of test prep that wealthier students receive.

O'Neill asks why SAT was administered, yet MAP cannot be.
Cassellius says COVID infection rates have gone up, even since SAT was administered.
Also, BPS official says there are key differences in assessments:

SAT is a Pencil and paper test. It takes four hours.

MAP test is computer-adaptive, untimed test. Requires multiple days of testing.

"We’d have to make sure we have adequate devises."

Also, tech problems might require proctors to be in close proximity to students.