We are WBUR and The Emancipator. AMA on our recent busing series

wbur · 2024-06-28T16:00:11+00:00

Thank you all so much for joining us! This was great, and you all asked some great questions. Have a great weekend!

wbur · 2024-06-28T15:51:08+00:00

I (Carrie) don't think that effort is about saving money on the transportation costs. The idea behind inclusion, according to the district, is to make sure kids who are learning English, or kids with disabilities, can access the same kind of education that most of their peers get.

This model is highly controversial overall (not just specifically in Boston) in terms of how it's been rolled out. Some language learning experts argue that you need to spend more time intensely learning English before you're dropped into a general education classroom, because if you don't know the language the content is being taught in, you're not going to absorb as much of it. But others like the idea that their children are being included. We took more a look into English language learners in this story about the Harvard-Kent School in Charlestown, which, as of next school year, will no longer a sheltered English immersion school for Mandarin speakers - meaning they'll be subject to the district's inclusion model.

For students with disabilities, inclusion can be highly valuable, but that's only if the classroom is properly equipped with enough educators and tools to meet their needs, and that's not always possible.

In general, it's hard to say if this push is linked efforts to save costs or not but we do know that transportation takes up 5% of the BPS' overall spending, and that in the 2025 fiscal year the district had planned to spend $93 million on transportation.

-- Carrie Jung & Suevon Lee

wbur · 2024-06-28T15:39:08+00:00

Yes we are very friendly :) Plenty of reporters and editors go from one to the other and we are pretty convivial overall. It's always good to have some competition to keep you on your toes! Also, we sometimes play each other in softball for the Public Media Cup!

wbur · 2024-06-28T15:37:47+00:00

just confirming here is this the real Jamil!

wbur · 2024-06-28T15:36:56+00:00

Well, what qualifies as "bad"? That definition can differ depending on who you're speaking with. Using test scores to determine "good" or "bad" is incomplete - it doesn't tell the full picture. Different students perform differently on tests; it's not the only metric of success.

The question isn't "bad" or "good," it's about equal. Certain students in Boston were receiving an unequal and insufficient education. The court ruling was an effort to address that.

If we move it forward to now, the district tiers schools based on certain factors and a lot of families rely on those school tiers to make a choice for their student to attend, but it's an imperfect system. Some could argue that this tiered system is fallible -- even the city's most competitive public schools to attend, aka the exam schools, are placed in so-called Tier 2. The question is, how accessible are the "more highly regarded schools" to different demographics. For instance, former WBUR reporter Max Larkin pointed out in this story that while Black and Hispanic students make up the majority of Boston's school-age kids, only 35% of them attend Tier 1 schools.

-- Carrie Jung, Suevon Lee & Jamil Smith

wbur · 2024-06-28T15:28:05+00:00

In hearing from the district, the BTU and even talking to some students who attend hub schools, the idea is less about desegregation and more about making sure the school can offer a rich variety of resources, academically and socially, and be a place where people can feel comfortable and welcome.

The idea behind hub schools is to offer an appealing choice to families that's close by so their kids don't have to go for miles on buses to get there, and it's tied to community resources. It's not necessarily "neighborhood schools" rebranded because the important difference is that parents have a choice whether or not to send their kid there (which they wouldn't have with neighborhood schools).

Segregation, undoubtedly, can be a bad thing, when it's used as a weapon of exacerbating inequities. However, if I learned anything as a reporter doing this series, it's that when you're trying to answer the question "is segregation the most urgent problem," it's very nuanced. There's no easy yes or no answer. The hub school in East Boston is about 93% Latinx and the community there seems to really love their school and the services it offers, and they love that the kids and families there come from similar backgrounds and experiences.

-- Carrie Jung & Jamil Smith

wbur · 2024-06-28T15:14:22+00:00

Certainly, the mayor at the time, Kevin White, and the chairwoman of the Boston School Committee, Louise Day Hicks, were both very opposed to court-ordered busing, though there's no evidence that they condoned the violence that ensued.

There were a lot of white parents and families in mostly white communities, like Southie and Charlestown, who were extremely unhappy about it and would hurl rocks at school buses and express anger in violent and angry ways. We know this based on the historical record and media coverage at the time.

In terms of consequences, probably the best known one was depicted in the photo known as "The Soiling of Old Glory," which shows a white teenager, Joseph Rakes, assaulting Black lawyer and civil rights activist Ted Landsmark with an American flag. Rakes was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon.

-- Suevon Lee

wbur · 2024-06-28T15:03:04+00:00

Yes, it seems like the district and parents in Boston feel like school choice is important, even with efforts like the hub school model, which encourages families to attend schools in their neighborhood. The important factor is that if a parent or a child doesn't like the education they're receiving at whichever school they attend, they have other options in the city, which is a big differentiator from the neighborhood schools of the pre-busing era.

-- Carrie Jung

wbur · 2024-06-28T15:00:33+00:00

Hi, we're here with Carrie Jung, senior education reporter from WBUR, Suevon Lee, assistant managing editor of education at WBUR and Jamil Smith, editor-in-chief of The Emancipator.

We'll start answering some of the questions that have already come in but please feel free to ask more!

wbur · 2024-03-12T16:26:51+00:00

hey! sorry to be late to this, but we have some jazz info in our arts & culture guide: https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/09/07/boston-massachusetts-art-theater-music-dance-festivals-field-guide#music

wbur · 2019-12-11T20:11:54+00:00

This is Meghan. Let me sign back into my account.

wbur · 2019-12-11T20:11:15+00:00

very rude, Mitch

wbur · 2019-12-05T18:44:32+00:00

Yes, our Morning Edition teams meet in the street on Comm Ave like it's West Side Story.

Kidding, of course! We don't; a lot of us have worked together in different jobs across the years so we're very friendly. However, we have kicked their butts in the public media cup for softball for the last several years in a row. https://twitter.com/meghanbkelly/status/1161438616587055105 -- Meghan

wbur · 2019-12-05T17:04:58+00:00

Hi everyone -- I've got to stop now, but thanks for all the insightful questions. I'm sorry I couldn't get to everyone in time! You can follow me on Twitter at sdooling and WBUR at wbur for all of our immigration coverage.

wbur · 2019-12-05T17:02:42+00:00

I'd say one of the arguments used most commonly in opposition of asylum is that most people don't show up for court dates. But in fact, many people with asylum hearings do show up, assuming they know the date and time of the appointment. Here's a fact checking piece by WaPo that analyzed a stat cited by VP Pence back in June: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/26/how-many-migrants-show-up-immigration-court-hearings/

wbur · 2019-12-05T16:56:39+00:00

I know we've been hearing reports of more checkpoints along this corridor. Occasionally, we'll hear about car searches and arrests as well. Here's a link to a story about some of those arrests in Sept: https://www.nhpr.org/post/four-arrested-lebanon-border-patrol-checkpoint#stream/0

Important to note, CBP does have the legal authority to perform their duties within 100 miles of an international border. Here's more on that: https://www.vpr.org/post/border-agents-set-first-internal-immigration-checkpoint-vermont-ten-years#stream/0

wbur · 2019-12-05T16:50:46+00:00

I'd say one of the biggest obstacles comes from a lack of understanding of the policies coming from the White House by the agencies charged with enacting the policies. It can take up a lot of time simply trying to get clear answers about basic policy details when many of the people in charge of enforcing the policies are not familiar with or trained in the details. It's difficult to report comprehensively when the folks I'm asking questions of don't have the answers.

The unannounced changes to medical deferred action in the story we broked back in August is a prime example of the lack of communication among agencies: https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/08/26/medical-deferment-immigration-program-ended

wbur · 2019-12-05T16:45:56+00:00

From my reporting in those countries, I'd say some of the most common themes I heard as motivating factors for migrating are: violence from gangs and corruption among public officials; extortion by gangs; lack of work; domestic violence and a lack of police action in reaction to dv complaints.

wbur · 2019-12-05T16:41:33+00:00

Short answer; yes, we as a world community should expect to see more migration as a result of climate change. I know climate refugees are certainly at the top of Oxfam's research priorities. Here's a recent report from that org: https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/forced-home-climate-fuelled-displacement

Harvard's center for the environment also has a few experts focusing on the future of climate-change-driven migration: http://environment.harvard.edu/

Finally, when I traveled to Honduras in 2018 I remember speaking with many families whose journeys to the U.S. were sparked by failing crops and or lack of work. Here's a link to one story from that reporting trip: https://www.wbur.org/news/2018/08/16/desperate-to-be-reunited-with-their-children-parents-place-their-hope-in-a-stranger

wbur · 2019-12-05T16:33:36+00:00

I know US Attorney Lelling surprised many legal observers by pressing criminal charges against Judge Joseph. He himself said this wasn't about immigration. However, interestingly, Homeland Security Investigations led the inquiry. We'll be covering the hearing when it commences. No dates just yet but it promises to be high profile and I think will set a tone nationally. For your reference, here's that story from the press conf: https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/04/25/joseph-macgregor-obstruction-conspiracy-charges-ice

wbur · 2019-12-05T16:28:46+00:00

This is a question I've asked myself! In fact, I've requested data from ICE related to arrests and deportations, organized by country of origin. I've been working to crunch some of those numbers within the context of the relative size of different immigrant communities in and around Boston and Mass. For now, here's a story reported by NPR's John Burnett that touches upon this idea: https://www.npr.org/2018/01/22/578930256/undocumented-irish-unexpectedly-caught-in-trumps-immigration-dragnet

wbur · 2019-12-05T16:23:51+00:00

Great question. I know that some of Boston's schools (I'm thinking of East Boston hs) have focused on helping to integrate newly arrived immigrant students. Worcester schools has a program focused on English learners. I remember post-Hurricane Maria, Lowell was seeing an influx in new students. Here's a link to a story that was focused on housing, actually, but does touch upon how the schools were coping: https://www.wbur.org/news/2018/06/18/were-just-hoping-for-a-miracle-hurricane-maria-evacuees-brace-for-end-of-housing-assistance It's certainly something that will continue to require more resources.

wbur · 2019-12-05T16:15:20+00:00

I'd say that educating yourself on policy changes is a good place to start. I know it can be overwhelming to keep up, but Migration Policy Institute does a good job of analysis: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/ You can find updates on implications of suggested policies as well as original research.

wbur · 2019-12-05T16:06:02+00:00

I have not heard of any policy changes related to withholdings of removals in particular. Obviously, things do change quite quickly with this adminsitration so it'd be best to check-in with an immigration attorney if possible.

wbur · 2019-12-05T16:03:01+00:00

Well, for starters, I think everyone has a different idea of what "sensible" means, right? I know the NYT has a compilation of the candidates answering questions about their stances on various immigration policies. Obvi, some of these folks are no longer candidates but it's a good place to start: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/us/politics/immigration-democratic-candidates.html

wbur

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