ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
Can ‘12 Years a Slave’ change Hollywood’s race problem?........ pg. 12
Main Streets director sees bright future for Grove Hall...........pg. 3
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BPS ramps up search for new superintendent Martin Desmarais After nine months with an interim school superintendent in place, city officials are ramping up the effort to hire a permanent superintendent — kicking off the search with a number of public hearings to find out what parents and the community want in the school system’s new leader. “Boston parents, students and other stakeholders have shared valuable thoughts and suggestions as we begin the process of finding a permanent school superintendent,” Mayor Martin Walsh said in a statement. “Engaging these voices is a fundamental step in this search, and our selection should be shaped by what our community believes that we need for our kids. Holding public hearings has been a successful tactic throughout my transition and in the early days of my administration. I look forward to hearing what our community members have to say as we begin to host these meetings.” Boston Public Schools officially established a search committee to find a new superintendent last month. The committee is being led by Boston School Committee member and Boston University School of Education Dean Hardin Coleman and Bank of America Massachusetts President Robert Gallery. The committee also includes
teachers, current and former school administrators, higher education leaders, student’s parents and business leaders. The committee will recommend a national search firm to assist in choosing a new superintendent, host the community meetings on the hiring of the new superintendent and narrow down the pool of possible candidates presented by the search firm with a recommendation of three finalists for the job by June. Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson said the hiring of a new superintendent presents a tremendous opportunity for moving the c i t y ’s p u b l i c s c h o o l s f o rward. “This is one of the most important roles,” Jackson said. “To me the education of our children is the most important role of the city. This job, bar none, is the most important hire that we will make in the next year or so.” According to Jackson, the new superintendent should be an experienced educator who has strong personnel skills and understands the power and importance of reaching out and building relationships in the community. “The requirements for this job are for someone who has run an urban school system and someone who understands that we need to be squarely focused on the achievement gap especially
“This job, bar none, is the most important hire that we will make in the next year or so.”
—Tito Jackson
superintendent, continued to page 9
Dudley Square Main Streets Executive Director Joyce Stanley says business innovation efforts planned for Dudley Square will lead to a greater diversity of businesses in the commercial district. (Banner photo)
Entrepreneurs float ideas for Dudley business incubator Yawu Miller Speaking to the Mass Technology Leadership Council last month, Mayor Martin Walsh urged industry leaders to look beyond the Seaport District and Kendall Square to neighborhoods like Mattapan as locations for new innovation districts. In neighborhoods across Boston, nonprofit leaders, entrepreneurs and at least one economist are looking for ways to attract business innovation, from the cutting edge of hightech to neighborhood coffee shops. Proponents of business innovation have focused much of their attention on Dudley Square as a potential location for business in-
cubators and as a potential innovation district. With rents significantly lower than in the Seaport District, and with its proximity to downtown Boston, universities and public transportation, Dudley Square may be a natural fit for business innovation, according to Harvard Economist Edward Glaeser, who heads the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. “It’s fairly close to the heart of Boston,” Glaeser said. “It has this amazing flow of bus traffic. It’s the busiest bus station in Boston.” Glaeser says there’s little need for government support to create an innovation district. A streamlined permitting process that would allow businesses to get established quickly
and with minimal cost is the key. “You could have one person who’s responsible for getting you through the permitting process,” he commented. “It’s not a huge cost. It’s just one person.” Glaeser also sees a role for local high schools and colleges to provide a pool of interns and employees who could learn business and technology with local startups. The Walsh administration’s chief of Economic Development, John Barros, says the city is considering ways to help spur innovation districts with tax breaks, grants and financing assistance, in addition to a streamlined permitting process. Dudley, continued to page 21
Latino representation seen lacking in Hub’s civic leadership Yawu Miller
Governor Deval Patrick discusses how Massachusetts is competing on the international playing field at a business summit with Massport and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel. (Governor’s Office photo by Eric Haynes)
At 43 percent of the student population, Latinos are the largest group in Boston’s public schools. Yet just 10 percent of the teachers in the system are Latino. And of eight School Committee members, only one is Latino. Along with African Americans and Asians, Latinos suffer the same pattern of underrepresentation in virtually all spheres of Boston’s civic life — a high concentration at the bottom of the pay
scales and decision-making chains with little to no representation at the top. Now a group of Latino nonprofit leaders is working to break down the glass ceiling in the city’s corporate, nonprofit and government sectors. Calling themselves the Latino Network, the group has held a series of meetings with representatives of city and state government to press the case for greater Latino representation. Latinos, continued to page 19
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