Mayor Menino Delivers Annual
State of the
City Address
Focus on
unleashing human potential through education, partnerships for learning,
progress for women, and
availability
of middle-income housing
In front of an audience of residents,
political leaders, and dignitaries, Mayor Thomas M. Menino tonight delivered
his annual State of the City address at Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall. In
addition to several other commitments, the Mayor announced $30 million in new
funding for underperforming schools, a pilot program to bring online learning
to Boston’s neighborhoods, enhanced public safety partnerships, and several
initiatives to achieve equity for women in the workplace. Mayor Menino
emphasized that the commitment of residents and political leaders to each
other, and the City of Boston, will continue to propel the city forward in
2013.
“Our progress is real. Our future
is bright. The state of our city is striking, sound, and strong,” Mayor Menino
said in his address. “Our untapped human potential is enough to power Boston’s
growth if we muster the courage and the creativity to unleash it.”
Before introducing plans for the City’s
future, the Mayor expressed his sincere gratitude for the outpouring of support
he has received over the past few months.
The State of the City was the Mayor’s 20th
annual address and 15th State of the City address. He has given five inaugural
addresses.
Advancing Education
Mayor Menino tonight announced
the start of a new, $30 million investment to continue quality improvements in
Boston Public Schools. Over the next three years, the funds will be used to
extend freedoms in hiring and learning time, as well as facility upgrades, at
schools that require high support.
The Mayor recognized the
tremendous work of his External Advisory Committee on School Choice, which will
soon make a final recommendation following a year-long community process to transform the way Boston students
are assigned to schools. Mayor Menino acknowledged that quality improvement
must be taken together with student assignment reform in order for the District
to reach new heights.
“The best way to celebrate our
accomplishments is not with applause, but with an encore,” Mayor Menino said.
“I’m fighting to gain the power to extend freedoms in hiring and learning time
to many more schools across the district. If a school has to fail before it
gets flexibility, it’s not just the school that is failing, it’s us!”
In addition to the Quality
Improvement Funds, Mayor Menino emphasized the importance of the legislative
proposals he filed earlier this month, a second phase of education reform
building from the success of his 2010 legislative package. Included in the 2012 legislative
package: Extending “turn-around” powers and support grants to Level 3 schools,
including High-Support Schools; Eliminating the cap on In-District charter
schools; Extending the school day for additional instruction and professional
development; Leveling the playing field for charter schools and District
schools.
Making
Boston the Premier City for Working Women
According to the US Census
Bureau, fewer than 30 percent of businesses in Boston are owned by women. While
this puts Boston on par with national averages, Mayor Menino acknowledged the
numbers fall short of aspirations for the City and its working women. The Mayor
tonight announced several proposals as Boston seeks to become the first major city
in the U.S. to achieve pay equity for women.
“To outshine all cities we must
unlock the potential of all of our women,” Mayor Menino said. “Recent college
graduates are earning less than their male classmates in the same jobs and with
the same degrees. We can do better than that.”
The Mayor’s proposals include:
· Appointing
a Women’s Workforce Council: Mayor Menino will appoint a Women’s Workforce Council,
the first of its kind in the country. Together with the Mayor, the Council will
tackle challenges facing Boston’s working women. The first priority will be the
wage gap, as Boston seeks to become the first major city to achieve pay equity
for women. The Council will include executives, entrepreneurs, industry and
workforce leaders, and young women to represent the next generation.
· Improving access to quality child care: In
addition to the investment the City has already made in providing quality early
education to more than 2,400 children in Boston Public Schools, Mayor Menino
announced a new, $1 million low-interest loan fund to assist family-based early
education providers invest in safe, quality child care environments.
· Launching “Women on
Main”: A networking program aimed to better connect the
City’s female-owned Main Streets businesses and foster peer-to-peer learning,
“Women on Main” will enable the City to learn more about the unique challenges
of female entrepreneurs, and provide them with the tools needed to grow and
thrive.
Connecting Boston’s Neighborhoods to the Knowledge Economy
Mayor Menino will launch a new
pilot, BostonX, that will partner with MIT, Harvard, and edX on an experiment
in blended, online learning. BostonX would bring place-based enhancements
to online edX learners and would help diminish the skills gap facing Boston
residents.
Mayor Menino will first launch
BostonX in neighborhood community centers. The BostonX spots would provide
public computing capacity and basic computer training; online learning
training; connections – in-person and electronic – to university or community
college faculty, staff, and graduate students; and services for career
counseling and job transitioning. The BostonX and edX teams envision then
bringing these connections to high school classrooms and public libraries.
“Imagine a day when our community
centers are little campuses in their own neighborhoods, full of vibrant groups
of neighbors, exchanging ideas and making progress together,” Mayor Menino
said. “This initiative is a first, important step in that direction.”
Improving Public Safety
Mayor Menino recognized the comprehensive prevention strategies responsible for
another drop in homicides in 2012. Citing recent national and local tragedies
resulting from gun violence, Mayor Menino vowed to continue his advocacy for
common sense gun reform at the national level.
“Mayor Bloomberg and I will keep
working with almost one thousand mayors and over one million Americans,” Mayor
Menino said. “I ask you to stand with us on guns to say enough is enough.”
The Mayor also announced the task
force responsible for a recent crime sweep in the Bowdoin-Geneva community
would extend its work for the rest of the year, emphasizing that those seeking
to bring guns and drugs into Boston’s neighborhoods will be brought to justice.
The Mayor also announced the City
will work with partners to support teens with autism in summer jobs and expand
the City’s inclusive after-school programs. Boston will adapt to meet the needs
of a growing population of seniors – projected to be 100,000 by 2017.
Additionally, the Mayor committed to a new effort to make more city services
“same day services,” as well as update climate work to reflect the threats the
City faces from storms like Sandy. In the coming year, the City will make
one million square feet of city-owned property available for development into
homes for middle-class families.
