Will Austin
@willfaustin
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Lifelong Bostonian and educator. Running, hometeams, reading, #bospoli. Leading the team at @BosSchoolsFund. Tweets are mine.
Boston
Joined April 2013
Thanks @BostonGlobe @BrianBergstein for the opportunity to share decades of my life and work in Boston
In @GlobeIdeas: Where have Boston’s children gone?
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Will Massachusetts take the lead in reining in sports betting addiction? Must-read from @willfaustin
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Attention is not the problem. The Democrats with the biggest social media followings did WORSE in 2024. Our party's problems are substantive, not cosmetic.
This is all fine and good but if you're not actively grappling with how to get attention for these ideas and be on people's feeds then it really doesn't matter.
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It's time to renew the Democratic Party. Introducing DECIDING TO WIN: the most comprehensive account yet of where Democrats went wrong, and what we need to do to win again. With a year of research and tons of new data, by @laurenhpope, @liamkerr, and me. Link and 🧵 below.
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Fun fact: The federal endowment tax applies only to colleges with over $500,000 in wealth per student. If colleges subject to the current endowment tax let in enough more students, they could escape the tax entirely. @ezraklein @mattyglesias @willfaustin
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"Question 2 appears to be yet another data point documenting a major political realignment in this country. Higher educational attainment has become a significant marker for how many people identify politically and vote." -@willfaustin
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“Setting clear goals, public leadership, creating monitoring systems, reinforcing culture, celebrating success, and empowering individual schools does not fit on a bumper sticker. But that is how you drive change.” - @willfaustin.
bostonglobe.com
The MCAS can help fix the learning crisis in our schools.
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Any intervention in response to recent MCAS results will go only so far without students frequently participating in class, writes @willfaustin.
bostonglobe.com
The MCAS can help fix the learning crisis in our schools.
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I’m voting No on 2 because no matter the community, every child deserves the highest quality education. If Question 2 passes, we'll become one of two states that don’t have a statewide standard for graduation. The only standard remaining would be four years of gym.
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There is an uncomfortable but true trade-off: Whatever real or perceived value of safety a cellphone may bring, it will most definitely mean a child will do worse in school academically and socially, writes @willfaustin.
bostonglobe.com
Even as cellphone bans have become more commonplace, enforcement varies between towns, schools, and even classrooms. If most adults agree on a ban, what is the hold up?
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"Closing the summer access gap is a potential path to closing achievement and opportunity gaps." Research shows that youth who attend 80% of summer programming will see better outcomes. We're honored to be featured in this piece by @willfaustin. https://t.co/VnYUzxoM7M
bostonglobe.com
Research shows that summer enrichment programs give students a leg up the following year, both academically and socially.
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Page 2. https://t.co/WssxNRIFln. Even on a spot check, there are schools with no invitations where applicants averaged a B. No doubt, the GPA requirement means fewer students qualify but it doesn’t explain the total difference.
@willfaustin Very interesting - didn’t the number of applicants from Year Z of the old policy to Year 1 of the new policy approximately halve? (Without looking it up, something like 2,200 -> 1,200?) If you could point to where that data appears in the court record, would love to review it.
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I thought the same thing! But when I extrapolated from the GPA data provided for the 2021 court case, I found that the vast majority of students in the former admission system had B averages are higher, too. Thank you for amplifying my work!
Although Will’s op-ed in @GlobeOpinion gets the big things right, it misses the real reason exam school applications are down. Under the old system, any student - even academically poor ones - could apply. The new GPA minimum weeds out a lot of no-chance applicants. #bospoli
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Why are fewer kids applying to Boston’s exam schools?
bostonglobe.com
The decline in applications to Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy, and the John D. O’Bryant speaks to the challenges of raising kids here.
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New from @willfaustin of @BosSchoolsFund: State should not double down on regressive lottery by adding online gambling.
Will Austin of the Boston Schools Fund urges lawmakers not to allow the Lottery to move online. Noting the Lottery's record profits, he says the state should not expand a gambling operation that disproportionately hits lower-income state residents.
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There are no winners with an online lottery. Let’s find a better way to raise revenue, Massachusetts. #mapoli
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Thank you to the @BosSchoolsFund who announced Wednesday at the Rafael Hernandez School the first recipients of the PEAK investment, which is part of a $2.3M initiative over the next three years. Among these recipients are the @hernandezK8sch, @SamuelAdamsEB, and @SumnerBPS
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The brand new @BostonArtsAcad space finally gives our brilliant students & staff a warm, welcoming space to shine! Plus its energy efficient design is helping build our Green New Deal City.
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Boston is the fifth-most-childless major city in the country, says @BosSchoolsFund’s @willfaustin. Affordable housing, quality schools, and funding for community organizations could be the solution.
bostonglobe.com
Though the city is booming, it is losing families. This is a trend we have to halt.
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