The Inconvenient Truth about Weston Public Schools
You’ve heard before that the cost of education in Weston is 30% higher than in comparable towns, and yet we have the same academic outcomes as those other schools, according to the data that are submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education by all Massachusetts schools. There are those who will say, in response, that education is not entirely about academics, that other dimensions of growth, development and learning are also important. We agree. However, the inconvenient truth is that our school system doesn’t seem to know how to prove that we are doing the other parts exceptionally well either; nor that the other parts, however planned and administered, add to the value of a Weston education relative to all the other peer schools who, undoubtedly, share the same vision of education. Yet those other towns are not spending 30% more to do whatever they’re doing. Up to now, the School Administration has chosen not to address these questions.
Weston’s Public Schools are very important for everyone in town, whether you have children in our schools or not. Our schools are a key part of our community, support our property values, and represent the majority of our town budget and property taxes. Last week it was announced that our superintendent is leaving at the end of this academic year, and the School Committee has begun addressing candidate selection. With the right criteria and a wise choice, and as the Committee itself continues to evolve, Weston could be well positioned to address all of the issues related to the cost of education, and to our other challenges, as well.
What are the other challenges Weston’s schools are facing?
Our enrollment has been trending down for several demographic reasons. While it rebounded a little following the pandemic, these trends are highly likely to continue (regardless of 40Bs) and this creates a challenge of right-sizing the costs, without harming the quality of education.
Massachusetts has the highest average level of teacher compensation in the country, and Weston has the highest level of total compensation in Massachusetts.
A significant number of Weston residents have chosen to send their children to school elsewhere, for reasons that do not include a family tradition of going to a private or parochial school. We know this based upon survey data.
Despite a number of attempts over the years, the School Administration has not produced a strategic plan that outlines academic and non-academic goals, an operational plan and measurements to guide our achievement of those goals, and a way to support the value of the 30% premium we are paying for a Weston education.
Sadly, despite all of the attention and resources Weston devotes to inclusion and outreach, we are not closing the achievement gaps that exist among different demographic groups… or at least we can’t tell whether we’re closing them or not… and if not, what we need to do differently.
Why have these challenges arisen?
For two main reasons, we believe. First, for years we have had unclear objectives and ill-defined priorities, with insufficient emphasis on academics and programs that produce measurable results. Currently, there are no effective measurements in the any of the district’s plans. Is a program moving the needle? And what is the needle that needs to be moved? An example of effective measurement would be: As a result of implementing the Illustrative Mathematics curriculum, MCAS scores increased by X% and the performance gap narrowed by X%. Currently, it’s impossible to tell whether we are gaining or losing ground, because there are no metrics or measurement. That also makes it impossible for the School Committee to provide any assessment of resource allocation and communicate with all residents the extent to which we’re making progress and meeting goals, or the extent to which the significant premium cost of our schools might be delivering the necessary value.
Second, a series of School Committees and Weston Public School Administrations have let the costs of running the district balloon, largely through many rounds of ineffective negotiations with the various school unions, especially the teachers’ union, and by not managing down costs as enrollment has declined. Contrary to the belief that much of the cost of running our schools is fixed, school personnel represent around 85% of WPS operating costs, and the vast majority of this cost ought to be variable with enrollment. Successive union contracts have provided significant pay increases but resulted in less classroom teaching, thus requiring more teachers to teach the same number of classes. So as enrollment has declined by 17% over the last 15 years, costs have increased by 50% (15% above inflation). As a result, per pupil costs have increased about 40% in real terms, and now represent a 30% cost premium relative to comparable affluent towns, nearly double the 17% cost premium 15 years ago.
Performance issues highlighted by “Why Not Weston?” survey
In 2016 a survey was done called “Why Not Weston?” to find out why 22% were opting out of our public school (http://www.westonschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Why-Not-Weston-Report-Final-Version-3-11-16.pdf). The data were reported at a School Committee Meeting, but no further steps were taken, and the survey was never discussed again or repeated. The data revealed meaningful ways that Weston could retain students and increase satisfaction.
Some of the top and actionable reasons cited for students leaving the district from the 2016 survey were:
Lack of academic rigor
Lack of appropriate academic programs
Student safety issues: bullying and bad behavior
Lack of programs: athletic, arts and/or other
Lack of responsiveness by school staff and/or administrators
How should Weston Public Schools proceed?
Weston schools need a new strategic plan with priorities and outcomes that are measurable within a specific time period, all within budget. The current plan was written quickly, with little input from the School Committee or the community. Importantly, it does not address why 23% of Weston is opting out in 2022/23, nor does it address our performance issues, enrollment challenges, or outsized operating costs. We don’t have a strategic plan with real strategies.
The school budget represents the largest portion of the town budget, 63% in 2022. It would be reasonable to expect that if we are paying more than comparable towns, we should be getting more. But academic outcomes – the only metrics that we have – suggest otherwise. The current plan focuses on broad ideas such as “The Whole Child”, “Climate of Care”, “Global Citizenship” and “Equity and Social Justice.” These are difficult to measure, but we can begin by measuring and benchmarking:
Academic outcomes – all grades, all subjects
Achievement gaps – all groups
Participation rates in sports, arts, clubs
Self-reported emotional metrics
Attendance rates – all grades
Number of Weston families “opting out” and why
We know there are members of the former School Committee (and the current Select Board) who see both PPE and the rate of inflation as the wrong basis for comparison. However you choose to define it, the cost of education has been rising at unsustainable rates and is not tied to outcomes.
In particular, Weston needs to address declining enrollment. The reality is that right now, every resident child who is going to graduate from Weston High School between now and 2040 has already been born. We know how many there are by age and by grade, and enrollment will almost inevitably continue to decline for the foreseeable future.
New 40B Affordable Housing in Weston may eventually contribute to enrollment but will not replace the numbers we have lost. Importantly, the status of each of the three big 40B projects is in flux and once started, construction will take years. If all three projects now on the table do ultimately proceed, they would add approximately 500 new residential units but contribute only 150 – 250 school age children. This number does not even replace the 368 students we have lost in the last 10 years.
Weston needs to address our achievement gap. This gap measures the disparity in academic performance among different demographic groups and sheds light on the inequality in educational opportunities in Weston. This problem makes it to a School Committee agenda every year and then it conveniently disappears from the administration’s focus and reporting. The good news is that our aggregate MCAS and attendance scores look good, if not very good. But our administration has historically been reluctant to dig deeper into the data and reveal that results differ based on demographic groups. Some groups are falling behind, if not very far behind. For example, our Grade 3-8 Math MCAS scores show that nearly 70% of this one subgroup is falling behind. When Weston is compared with other comparable districts on the performance of this subgroup, we come in last place. What are our comparable districts doing? How have they moved this needle? Data shows this is a problem that effective leadership can solve.
Chronic absenteeism is problem that is highly correlated to the achievement gap. On a subgroup basis, chronic absenteeism rates are more than three times higher for some groups. If students are not in school, they can’t be taught. A few years ago, a Weston school nurse a piloted a program to address our “chronically absent” issue and it yielded great results – it moved the needle. The district has not continued the program.
The current key to success is to attract a strong superintendent who has a vision and has demonstrated that they can can affect the kinds of changes that will make a difference in academic planning, goal setting, and measurement and improving the economics of education in Weston. If you'd like to provide the School Committee with your input, please consider attending a public forum or sending an email to schoolcommittee@weston.org. Here's the link to a School Committee survey where you can give your input regarding district priorities, leadership attributes and accountability metrics: https://bit.ly/3EKWYdb.
Finally, in the May town elections, there will be an opening on our School Committee. This is truly an exciting time for the Town, and you can make a difference and by adding your expertise to a cause that matters. If you have the time and talent, please consider running for the open seat on the School Committee. We can help you with the process, which is not as complicated as it may seem. Note that the Town Caucus in on Monday, March 6th, and is the place to be nominated and on the May ballot.