Remarks of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino

"Learning With Excitement" Conference
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Cambridge, Massachusetts
October 3, 2003

It's really great to be over here at Harvard, with all you folks who are making a difference in education, and also with Larry Summers, who's been my partner for the last couple of years in improving education in the City of Boston. One thing you can say about your President over here, that he understands how public education works and he wants to be involved in what we're doing, not just in Boston, but other cities and towns, and also this nation.

We've got a lot of folks out there who talk about "No child left behind." Well, a lot of children are being left behind. And there are a lot of mandates out there and no money behind those mandates. And they expect us all to do it through smoke and mirrors and it can't happen with blue smoke and mirrors.

So we have to get serious about this issue of education. We all have to work together. As Mayor I've made the expansion of afterschool programs in Boston my top priority. Because I understand the tremendous impact a quality afterschool program can have on the kids' lives. I'm out in the neighborhoods every day; it's probably the best part of my job. And no matter where I go I hear the same comments, from parents, teachers, and religious leaders. Afterschool programs work and are vital to the success of our young people.

And one reason is really the diversity of our classrooms in Boston. You might go into any classroom in the City of Boston, you might have 40 different cultures within that classroom. How do you expect teachers to teach all those kids the same? They need that reinforcement. And that's the way I look at afterschool programs, helping what goes on in the classroom. It can't just happen in that five or six hours.

And also, we live in a time when parents must work long hours outside the home. And that has increased the need for kids to have some kind of support, adults outside their family. It's not just about taking kids off our streets. It's about connecting young people with adults in their community. Adults will serve as mentors, and forge strong, meaningful relationships with our children.

The afterschool program, as I look at it, shapes the whole person. It reinforces the academic lessons taught during the school year, provides opportunities for sports and recreation, and exposes kids to the arts. Education doesn't just come from five or six hours of classroom work. It's what you're exposed to - the arts, recreation, whatever it may be -- that helps a kid grow. But most importantly, it helps build self-confidence. And when young people have healthy self-confidence, they are better-equipped to tackle life's challenges and to realize their dreams.

I've worked hard over the last two years to give our children in the city the resources and support systems they need to achieve their full potential. But we need to do more to bridge what happens during the school day with what goes on in afterschool programs. Not simply extending the school day, but creating exciting opportunities that extend the concept of need-to-learn school. To really bring the learning process full cycle. Boston needs the universities and community partners to come together, to help us improve the quality and quantity of afterschool programs for our children and our families.

Five years ago, my goal was to have 3,000 kids in afterschool programs. And today, we have 7,500 kids in afterschool programs. I also wanted to look at what the Boston After School for All Partnership, which is led by Chris Gabrieli: a five-year, $24.5 million funding commitment, from 13 leading organizations. By working together we're making great strides in expansion, learning, and sustainable financing. And, with their help, we nearly doubled the number of children, like I said, attending the afterschool programs in our city.

Harvard's convening you folks today, all the folks in this room, is an important contribution to the afterschool programs, and the field of afterschool also. In Boston, we have a place, a strong collaboration, committed to addressing the issue of how to effectively bridge school and afterschool learning. And how to build afterschool programs that build strong relationships between adults and our kids. That's why I'm really glad to be here today. We're focused on precisely how learning takes place in relationships. And how learning, in turn, strengthens relationships for children and youth.

The universities must work closely with youth development and community partners to really strengthen the afterschool field, to conduct solid research and evaluation, create an effective clearinghouse of information, and to link schools and extended-day goals and outcomes.

And one of the things I always say about programs, we spend money on programs, but what's the effect? What does the kid get out of that program during the course of the five days of the school year? We have to evaluate what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong. That's a very key component of all these programs. You know, we have thousands of programs, and I keep saying to my folks, has somebody done a real evaluation of them? Could we put that money someplace else? Because we did things for 25 years, sometimes, we could do away with some.

The Department of Public Health and the city eliminated five programs. The Department of Public Health - just think about this - five programs in the last budget. I didn't get one call from anybody on it. Just think about that. They were there for 25 years. But because they were there for 25 years, nobody had the guts to remove them.

And you've got to look at what programs are doing. Some of the stuff you've been doing for a lot of years - outdated. You don't need it anymore, and they don't serve anybody. They serve the two or three people who work in those programs, yeah. Keeping them in a full-time job. But do they serve, is their mission out there serving people? And that's what we've got to think about today, with the limited resources we have in our society.

I take a look at every program we have. The afterschool program is one of the programs I think we get the most from because I see our MCAS scores going up, SAT scores going up. I see real progress being made in education. Look at some of the other things you're working on. Are they necessary today? They were necessary yesterday; are they necessary today? That's the real question.

So I ask all of you: We all have a stake in the success of our children. Let's all work together to clearly define what success looks like for our children, academically and socially.

Also, I just want to say to everyone, thank you for being here. You know, this is so important, this day. I look forward to the report afterward. I see some folks out there who I see almost every day as I do events in the City of Boston. I appreciate the work you do for us.

But, as you go through this day, at the end of the day, let's have an action plan. Let's talk about changes. Let's talk about some reinforcements. It's so important that we do what is necessary to improve the education of our children. That should be our top priority. It's not a top priority anymore. People talk about it, but there's nothing behind that talk. It's all left to localities to deal with the issues of public education, and that's unfortunate.

So thank you very much for listening to me this morning, and let's continue to work together to improve our future. Our future is our children.

Thank you.

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Read President Summers' remarks: 'Learning with Excitement' Conference