An interesting opinion for Exam School watchers - a 3rd Circuit panel reversed an earlier grant of summary judgment in favor of the Philadelphia public schools, in a challenge to a selective H.S. admissions policy that gave a leg up to residents of specified zip codes. #bospoli

Link to opinion:

There are some notable differences in the details of Philly’s policy vs BPS’s, but regardless the unanimous CA3 panel (including Obama and Biden appointees) roundly rejected the reasoning applied by CA4 in TJ and CA1 in the first Exam School case.

An interesting opinion for Exam School watchers - a 3rd Circuit panel reversed an earlier grant of summary judgment in favor of the Philadelphia public schools, in a challenge to a selective H.S. admissions policy that gave a leg up to residents of specified zip codes. #bospoli

Headline take 4. What on earth is going on here?

And now the headline has been changed again, this time to add an eye-catching quote (which has been in the article body since it was first published yesterday). They might never stop editing this thing!

To be fair, “neutral” is probably more accurate than “positive” to describe the first headline.

Interesting: The Globe quietly edited this headline during the day yesterday to change it from a positive story about land use to a negative one about community outrage. The original text isn’t available, but it seems they also rewrote the article itself a bit, to the same end.

Weber may have revealed himself as a backstabber and a hypocrite, but at least he got the committee assignment he really wanted. #bospoli

Mystery solved - the Globe’s figure includes five in-district charter schools that are subject to the BPS budgeting process. So per pupil expenditure is more like $34k.

Does @GlobeEducation have access to data other than what’s posted on DESE’s website? Today @huffakingit reports current BPS enrollment as 46,514 - but the publicly available data from DESE shows 44,416. (The latter figure translates to $35k budgeted per pupil.) #bospoli

Naturally, the article has already approvingly quoted an activist who articulates the polar opposite viewpoint. It seems Stout didn’t ask the logical follow-ups re: whether the legislature should also have a mid-40s married black mother, an early-40s single Asian father, &c. &c.

It only took until paragraph 27 (of 30) for Matt Stout to make the (correct) observation that undermines the entire premise of his article.

A #bospoli story in 3 acts. 1. July 2025: The Boston School Committee delivers a positive assessment of Mary Skipper’s performance as superintendent. Only one member, Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, sensibly notes that Skipper has in fact done nothing to improve academic performance.

P.S. Credit to @GlobeOpinion for recognizing in November that Wu is by nature skeptical of appointees who don’t show sufficient gratitude for her patronage. It’s a pity; BCH brought a too-rare measure of curiosity and critical observation to a role that most treat as a sinecure.

3. January 2026: Wu unceremoniously shows Cardet-Hernandez the door. -Fin-

2. October 2025: At her “state of the schools” pep rally, Mayor Wu lauds Skipper without qualification. (Not particularly surprising, given that Skipper was hand-picked by Wu to supplant the sitting superintendent, Brenda Cassellius, immediately after Wu’s first inauguration.)

A #bospoli story in 3 acts. 1. July 2025: The Boston School Committee delivers a positive assessment of Mary Skipper’s performance as superintendent. Only one member, Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, sensibly notes that Skipper has in fact done nothing to improve academic performance.

Setting aside the typo (2026?), this post is a timely reminder that AG Healey torpedoed the au pair program in Massachusetts, an important source of middle class childcare. #mapoli

Also, “five-alarm.”