Boston City Council Passes $1.73 Billion BPS Budget 8-5 Amid Paraprofessional Cuts Debate

BOSTON — June 3, 2026 — Boston City Council passes $1.73 billion BPS budget 8 to 5 but punts the full city operating budget to its June 10 charter deadline. Ways and Means Committee Chair Councillor Ben Webber recommended passage of the Boston Public Schools fiscal year 2027 spending plan, which increases funding by roughly $88 million while eliminating more than 400 student-facing positions, including 161 paraprofessional roles that the council had honored in a formal resolution just hours earlier. Voting no were Councillors Culpepper, Flynn, Mejia, Murphy, and Worrell, with Flynn delivering a lengthy floor speech arguing the city could not "balance the budget on the backs" of the lowest-paid workers in the system. Councillor Mejia read a June 2 Boston Teachers Union letter into record urging rejection and calling on the city to tap reserve funds and state aid increases rather than cut positions. The council separately and unanimously approved a $12.6 million FEMA security grant for 2026 FIFA World Cup operations and two supplemental appropriations — $47.1 million for snow removal and $22.8 million for BPS health insurance and utility deficits. The full FY27 operating budget was postponed after Councillors Murphy and Mejia challenged the adequacy of seven hours and 38 minutes of deliberation time and the late delivery of the committee report.