Boston City Council Grills BPS Leaders on Inclusion Plan Funding and Bilingual Staff Gaps

BOSTON — April 29, 2024 — Boston City Council pressed BPS leaders over inclusive education funding and bilingual staffing gaps in a marathon FY25 budget hearing. Councilor Brian Worrell, chair of the Ways and Means Committee, convened the April 29 session covering the district's $1.5 billion FY25 operating budget, which the Boston School Committee approved March 27. Superintendent Mary Skipper defended an $81 million city investment that includes $20 million in new inclusive education spending — broken down as $15 million for school-based planning teams, $2.7 million for multilingual learners with disabilities, and roughly $2 million held in reserve — while acknowledging that anticipated ESSER funding expiration in September 2024 makes this "one of the most difficult budgets in decades." Boston Teachers Union political director Johnny McInnes testified that educators are being left to manage classrooms "without the additional specialized support they need," calling for full funding of co-teaching models. A data entry error that appeared to show a net loss of 15 special education paraprofessional positions was corrected on the record; those positions are continuing. Superintendent Skipper is scheduled to return May 23 to present BPS's long-term facilities plan to the council.