Educators for Excellence-Boston Reacts to Naming of Brenda Cassellius as Superintendent of Boston Public Schools

May 1 (Boston) — E4E-Boston, a teacher-led organization, congratulates Dr. Brenda Cassellius on her selection as the next Superintendent of Boston Public Schools. In a survey last fall, over 500 E4E-Boston educators expressed their hope that the new superintendent would have previous classroom experience, lead transparently and engage teachers and the community.

“I am glad that the Boston School Committee selected someone who has classroom experience for this job,” said Kwame Sarfo-Mensah, a middle school math teacher at Lee Elementary, educational consultant, and member of E4E-Boston. “Given the fact that our Black and Latinx students have historically been the lowest performing groups, it is important to have a leader who can relate to them on a personal level and empower teachers to use the cultural diversity of the students as the vehicle to create academically rigorous tasks that will increase student engagement and achievement.”

“As a BPS graduate, I welcome Dr. Cassellius to the district,” said Brandy Fluker-Oakley, Executive Director of E4E-Boston. “E4E-Boston teachers hope to sit down with Superintendent Cassellius early in her tenure to discuss ways to demystify the work of central office, build trust and create pathways for engagement with the community. We wish Dr. Cassellius luck as she begins navigating the BPS landscape and look forward to having an opportunity to collaborate on the policy issues our teachers care about most, including supporting the nearly two-thirds of all students who have experienced trauma and don’t have adequate access to mental health staff.”

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Founded by public school teachers, Educators for Excellence is a growing movement of more than 30,000 educators with 850 in Boston, united around a common set of values and principles for improving student learning and elevating the teaching profession. We work together to identify issues that impact our schools, create solutions to these challenges, and advocate for policies and programs that give all students access to a quality education.

For more information, please visit e4e.org and on the E4E-Boston campaign website.