The Chelsea, Mass., board of aldermen voted 8 to 1 last week to approve and send to the legislature a measure permitting Boston University to take over the management of the city’s public schools.
In response to a petition from citizens who say their views on the issue have not been fully aired, however, the board also agreed to hold a public hearing on the proposal and scheduled for this week a vote to reconsider its decision. (See Education Week, April 5, 1989.)
Meanwhile, the state board of education, which is concerned that the proposed 10-year agreement lacks safeguards protecting public access to meetings and records, voted 7 to 4 last week to urge the legislature to make the contract effective for only two years.
The state board also voted unanimously to express its “extreme displeasure” that the process of adopting the agreement “deprived poor and Hispanic residents of an opportunity for involvement.”
