Boston part of statewide campaign seeking outstanding teachers for positions in Turnaround Schools

Boston is one of nine cities in the Commonwealth seeking outstanding teachers to apply for positions in “Level 4” or Turnaround Schools next year. For more information about these opportunities, visit www.amazingteachers.org.

This website is designed to inform teachers about career opportunities in the state’s Turnaround Schools, which are located in nine districts: Boston, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Springfield and Worcester. The site provides information about the first group of 35 “Level 4” schools and the nine urban public school districts in which they are located, with a focus on supports and incentives for teachers.

The website includes videos of outstanding teachers who currently work in Level 4 schools and also allows visitors to recommend great teachers to be considered for teaching positions in Level 4 schools.

Boston teachers featured in the videos include English High School history teachers Efraim Toledano and Caitlyn Murphy, Trotter Elementary School 5th grade teacher Joanne Douglas, and Trotter science teacher Brenda Richardson. Students also have a chance to share their thoughts on their amazing teachers.

Read today's Globe article about the state's new recruitment campaign for Turnaround Schools.

NECN's "Bending the Curve" series looks at education reform and the achievement gap

The latest installment of NECN's series, Bending the Curve: Closing the Economic Divide in Massachusetts, examines the achievement gap and the education reform legislation recently passed in Massachusetts. The first part of the program features an interview with Boston School Committee member John F. Barros. In a second segment, Nicole Mack, principal of the Everett Elementary School in Dorchester, participates in a panel discussion on the education reform law with Paul Reville, Education Secretary for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Mass. State Rep. Marty Walz, chair of the joint committee on education, and Kevin Andrews, Headmaster of the Neighborhood House Charter School and President of the Board of Directors of the Mass. Charter Public School Association. Later in the program, NECN profiles the TechBoston Academy Lower School in Dorchester as a model of innovation.

Mayor Menino congratulates House leaders for passing education reform bill that allows for greater local innovation

Mayor Thomas M. Menino this morning joined Superintendent Carol R. Johnson, Reverend Gregory G. Groover, Sr., Chairperson of the Boston School Committee, and other School Committee members to congratulate members of the House of Representatives on passing a comprehensive education reform bill. The bill, passed by the House in the early morning hours today, provides the flexibility to create in-district charter schools, meaningful turnaround tools for underperforming schools, and the ability to innovate without the delay of lengthy arbitration. The bill’s passage also puts the Commonwealth in a better position to compete for a potential $250 million in federal funding through the Race to the Top initiative. Read more about the Mayor's comments in The Boston Globe.