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Parents, students and teachers urge Boston council to add 1% to FY27 school budget to avert staff cuts
Summary
At a March 24 Ways and Means public listening session, parents, students, teachers and the Boston Teachers Union urged the council to add roughly $48 million (1% of the city operating budget) to Boston Public Schools' FY27 budget to avoid proposed cuts to paraprofessionals, multilingual positions and librarians.
At a March 24 public listening session of the Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means, dozens of parents, students and educators urged councilors to allocate an additional 1% of the city’s operating budget to Boston Public Schools to prevent staff reductions and program cuts.
"I respectfully ask that BPS reconsider these decisions, restore the librarian position, fund necessary playground safety improvements, and most importantly, provide a transparent, responsive budget process," said Michelle Mualim, a parent at the BTU Pilot School in Jamaica Plain.
The requests centered on staffing that school leaders and unions say is at risk. Eric Berg, president of the Boston Teachers Union, told the committee the FY27 proposal reduces school-based staffing substantially: "A 105 special education paraprofessionals eliminated, a 142 multilingual education positions, support staff at 41 schools," and he contrasted those reductions with city reserves and free cash.
Students and parents described the effects they expect if cuts proceed. "These budget cuts will especially affect immigrant students and English learners," said a student member of the Boston Student Advisory Council, recounting firsthand reliance on bilingual teachers and counselors. Simel Rodriguez, a Roxbury parent, told councilors cuts would remove supports her child depends on and that "an additional 1% for our schools, around 48,000,000, can make the difference between stability and crisis for thousands of students." That $48 million figure was repeated by multiple witnesses as the council’s requested restoration amount.
Several witnesses emphasized library services and paraprofessional positions. "Librarians and library paraprositions must be centrally funded," said Cassandra Samuel, a library paraprofessional who said her position and others face elimination. Colleen Hart, a paraprofessional representative, said many paras earn less than $30,000 a year and urged restoring those jobs.
Speakers also described how cuts would disproportionately affect students with IEPs and English learners, as well as arts, music and after-school programs. "When we invest in our children, we're not just supporting one student," one parent said. The union and multiple parents asked the council to use available reserves or re-prioritize other allocations to prevent layoffs and service reductions.
Chair Ben Weber closed remarks by noting the committee had received many written testimonies on related items and said councilors would consider the testimony in their budget work over the coming months. The session adjourned after the committee reviewed written submissions and oral testimony.
The committee did not take a formal vote at the listening session; the budget process will continue with further hearings and council deliberations before any final appropriation.
