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Study flunks Boston schools

The Boston public school system, the oldest in the country, may now also be one of the worst, according to a recently concluded 13-part series by the Boston Globe, based on a six-month investigation by its "Spotlight" team. Among the findings:

P:A third of the 10,000 high school stu dents taking more than two academic courses flunked more than half their basic academic subjects last winter. Some 60% failed because of excessive absenteeism (about a fourth of the high school students were absent on any given day).

P:For the past nine years, students in grades one through eleven have been given a national reading test. In that time, only the first and second grades scored at or above the national norm. In general, the statistics uncovered suggest that the higher the level the student reached in the Boston system, the lower he placed nationally on the exam.

P:There is wide spread abuse of sick leave by teachers. About 20% of the system's 4,200 teachers took more than the 15 annual sick days provided by the union contract. The president of the teachers' union described the absenteeism problem as "teensy," explaining that continued job stress and budget-based layoffs have demoralized teachers. But on any given day, 55 teachers are absent, and about 1,300 students get little or no instruction. Estimated cost of the absenteeism: $10 million a year.

P: The budget for textbooks and supplies was cut in half last year. There are so few textbooks that some teachers say they can not allow students to take them home--and therefore cannot assign any home work. There is no citywide curriculum for teaching basic skills in each grade and no standard of promotions. As a result, 89% of the students are promoted each year.

Last fall, several months after becoming the city's seventh superintendent in nine years, Robert Spillane acknowledged that the system was viewed by educators around the country as "a national disgrace." While Spillane has taken steps to standardize the curriculum and improve teacher development, the Boston system faces further staff and program cutbacks as a result of Proposition 2 1/2, a 1980 referendum that drastically limits taxes--hence revenues-- for schools. sb

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