Boston public school teachers believe issues of race and racism should be taught in public schools, particularly in the older grades, according to a survey conducted by Educators For Excellence, a national teacher-led organizing group.

The survey of 110 Boston teachers, sponsored by the Barr Foundation, includes a number of revealing details about the position of Boston teachers on curriculum disputes and on the challenging post-pandemic state of students’ academic achievement and mental health.

Educators For Excellence lists “anti-racism” as part of its mission, and the organization has spearheaded a campaign to advocate for a more racially diverse curriculum in schools and more racially diverse teachers. Legislation on Beacon Hill seeking those changes failed to pass in the current legislative session.

Educators For Excellence used the survey to wade into the cultural debates over what should be taught in the classroom. Currently, according to Education Week, 42 states have introduced bills that would limit certain types of teaching about racism or sexism, such as teaching about “critical race theory,” and 17 states actually passed policy restrictions.

According to the survey, Boston teachers were far less likely than teachers nationally to support legislation banning certain lessons about racism or sexism, with 66 percent opposing legal limits on classroom conversation compared to 41 percent nationally. (No such bill has been introduced in Massachusetts.)

Currently, the poll found, Boston teachers have a relatively low opinion of their schools’ curriculum. Only 44 percent said they felt the curriculum was “high quality and well-aligned to learning standards” and only 36 percent felt it was “culturally relevant” to the student population. More than half (57 percent) said they often create their own lessons to supplement the curriculum.

Asked whether students should be taught about specific topics related to racism, Boston teachers tended to say yes, with an emphasis on middle and high school. More than half of the teachers felt that topics like slavery, the civil rights movement, and the Civil War should be taught across all grade levels. But fewer than half felt that racial inequality in America’s past or present, systemic racism, and students’ personal experiences with racism should be taught in elementary school. Teachers wanted those topics to be reserved for older students.

There was also less support for teaching younger students about the history of lesbian, gay, and transgender people, with only a quarter of teachers wanting those lessons taught in elementary school, and 79 percent saying they should be taught to high schoolers.

Lisa Lazare, executive director of Educators For Excellence Boston, said the survey pointed to the fact that educators are “really dissatisfied with the curriculum,” and they want race-related issues to be included in the curriculum. “Overwhelmingly, Boston educators do believe topics like the Civil War and slavery and racism absolutely should be taught in schools. Where we differ is how we’re doing it, how we’re managing conversations at different levels,” Lazare said.

In other areas, the survey echoed the sentiments of other studies and polls which have found that children continue to struggle with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and interrupted learning. Two-thirds of the Boston teachers said their students were further behind today academically compared to a typical class before the pandemic. More than half reported that violence in schools was worse than before the pandemic. And 77 percent of teachers said their students had worse mental health than pre-pandemic.

As school districts, including Boston, have a huge influx of federal COVID recovery money to spend, officials at Educators 4 Excellence see the survey as a tool to guide Boston’s expenditures. The survey asked teachers what Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s priorities should be in improving education, and the most popular responses were increasing resources for high-needs students and schools (45 percent) and improving mental health supports for students (40 percent).

SHIRA SCHOENBERG

 

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STORIES FROM ELSEWHERE AROUND THE WEB                    

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

British couple touring region: The town is in a tizzy as Prince William and Princess Kate arrive for a three-day visitculminating in Friday’s awarding of the Earthshot Prize for addressing climate issues. (Boston Globe)

Boston Herald columnist Rasheed Walters rips local NAACP president Tanisha Sullivan as the heavy-handed power player behind the recent Boston city council redistricting, and says Councilor Brian Worrell was cowed into voting for a map that could jeopardize his hold on his seat.

A man was arrested and faces charges following a confrontation with New Bedford election commission chair Manuel DeBrito, who says the man hurled racial slurs at him. (New Bedford Light)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Supporters of the North Shore Birth Center hold a ceremony to mark its December 1 closure. (Salem News) CommonWealth recently spotlighted the looming closure, which leaves the state with just one birth center.

Disability rights advocates are seeking to force the state to unseal records that could shed light on the abuse suffered by people with mental illness at now-closed state-run institutions. (MassLive)

A new study shows that Black and Hispanic patients are far more likely than white residents to go to Massachusetts emergency rooms to receive routine care. (Boston Globe)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Rep. Katherine Clark is elected the No. 2 Democrat in the House as her peers back younger, more diverse leaders as the chamber is about to shift to Republican control. (NPR)

The House Ways and Means Committee gains access to six years of former president Donald Trump’s tax returns. (New York Times)

ELECTIONS

The Boston City Council votes 9-4 to lower the voting age for municipal elections to 16. The measure needs state approval, however, to take effect. (State House News Service)

Springfield City Councilor Justin Hurst says he intends to run for mayor against incumbent Domenic Sarno. (Western Mass Politics & Insight)

Donald Trump is going full MAGA in his third presidential run, an embrace of the far-right that forms his core base that was evidenced by his recent dinner with antisemite Kanye West and Holocaust-denying white supremacist Nick Fuentes. (Boston Globe)

HOUSING

The Community Development Corp. of South Berkshire is trying to raise $1 million to complete the purchase of the Marble Block building in Great Barrington and preserve affordable rents for eight apartments. (Berkshire Eagle)

EDUCATION

A Globe editorial gives a plug for state Board of Higher Education chair Chris Gabrieli’s call for a $400 million infusion of funding for the sector using proceeds from the newly-passed millionaires tax.

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

Massachusetts regulators clear an East Boston electric substation for construction, saying 14 local environmental permits are not needed. (WBUR)

A rescue team euthanizes four pilot whales who became beached in shallow waters off of Cape Cod. (GBH)

Gov. Charlie Baker and other New England governors are asking the Biden administration to lift federal restrictions that ban foreign shipping vessels from transporting cargo between US ports, saying the century-old Jones Act is contributing to high natural gas prices. (Gloucester Daily Times)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

A Fall River police officer was arrested on Wednesday and is facing federal charges of assaulting a man taken into custody and lying about the incident in reports. (Herald News)

MEDIA

The Washington Post is halting the publication of its Sunday magazine after the December 25 issue is released.

ProPublica and Vanity Fair release a lengthy response and a few corrections in response to criticism of their original reporting on the origins of COVID-19.

NPR, coping with a downturn in funding, says it will impose a near-total hiring freeze. (NPR)

The Salem News profiles former reporter, editor, and author Glenn Johnson, who has taken a new job working for newly elected Essex DA Paul Tucker.

PASSINGS

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