Should a private university be given control over a public school system?

In a time when public school reform is the talk of Washington, the city of Chelsea, just north of Boston, decided in 1989 to try their own brand of educational reform when they teamed up with Boston University in the firstever partnership between a private university and a public school system.

Many critics have attacked the experiment, in which Boston University assumed control of Chelsea's public schools, calling it an unworkable precedent. Community leaders complain they have little input in the new changes, and two groups, the Chelsea Teachers Union and the Chelsea commission of Hispanic Affairs, have filed suit against the city, protesting that the new contract violates the state constitution.

But despite these and other setbacks, the contract between B.U. and Chelsea's five-school, 3,700-student school system continues to exit. Today, Chelsea is immersed in an elaborate process of educational reform, as a series of B.U.-initiated programs unite teachers and student from Chelsea and B.U. to work together to improve the Chelsea schools.

When Chelsea's school committee approached Kevin Carleton, B.U.'s director of media relations, to conduct a study of the school system and offer possible methods of improvement, "there were too many problems to fix," Carleton says.

"Anything that could go wrong had," Carleton says. "There was no curriculum beside the daily lesson plan. The schools were underfunded, there was no computerization, the teachers were underpaid...even the buildings were falling apart."

As B.U. began working to improve Chelsea's schools, the city's problems worsened. In 1991, financial and political problems left Chelsea bankrupt. The city was placed into receivership, the entire school system was dismantled, and a sixth of the teachers were permanently laid off.

"Chelsea was a plane going down," Carleton says. "The school committee bailed out and the city crashed and burned."

Despite Chelsea's problems, B.U. continued the long process of reform. Carleton says long-term plans involve improving attendance rates, improving graduation rates, and addressing faculty needs.

"Our broad goal is to create a model for educative reform," Carleton said. "We are working on the development of the curriculum from the low grades into high school."

Some aspects of the reforms have already succeeded. Chelsea has witnessed a dramatic decrease in dropout rates, from 18 percent in 1989 to 8 percent in 1992, and also an increasing attendance rate.

The 10-year program began in 1989 with a proposal by the university's school of management and education and later accepted by the mayor and school committee.

A temporary change in the Massachusetts state charter replaced the Chelsea school committee with a nine-member B.U. management team comprised of faculty members of the schools of education, liberal arts, and public health. The team meets monthly to make policy decisions.

Elsa Wasserman, headmaster of Chelsea High School, says she is seeing a trend of progress in the new partnership.

"I look at it as an experiment," Wasserman says. "Any relationship takes time to grow. But we were lucky the management team was here when the city's problems began."

Christian Midina, a senior at Chelsea High, says, "At first, I didn't see any changes. I was like, `Where's B.U.?.' But, now I see them."

"A lot of lessons have been learned since the beginning of the partnership," Wasserman says. "The feelings of a lack of inclusion have been addressed with more open meetings and sending out information."

Carleton and Paul Clemente, B.U. associate vice-president of financial affairs, acknowledge that there has been some negative community feedback against the project.

"Chelsea is a complex community with every problem that exist in every large city. A lot of people thought we'd pay to run the schools. That was a misconception," Clemente says. "We are trying to foster broad participation by the many different groups in Chelsea and the PTO."

But some members of the community say the contract should never have been signed. Juan R. Vega, the office manager of the Chelsea Commission on Hispanic Affairs and life-long Chelsea resident, says the commission, which is currently suing the city, believes the program sets a poor precedent for educational reform.

"I'm one of the plaintiffs protesting the constitutionality of a private entity controlling a public entity," Vega says. "We still think that the school system should not have been handed to a private university."

The contract allows Boston University exemption from five public education laws--open meetings, open records, public audits, and regulations of hiring and firing personnel.

"We gave away the whole store," Vega says. "The school committee remains powerless."

However, the school committee continues to exist in an advisory capacity and can override the entire contract with a majority vote. A two-third majority can overrule any B.U. team decision on all issues but personnel.

Clement does admit the project is not without flaws, but says these are attributable to a lack of precedent.

"We've groundbreakers," he says. "We're trying, learning, making mistakes, moving forward. We would like to communicate to others who are thinking of taking on a similar responsibility so they won't have to make our mistakes."

Vega claims that an open-bid process allowing other universities to offer alternative proposals would have been more justified. While he believes in some of the new programs, he says he does not feel the basic level of education has been properly addressed.

"Some valuable programs have been implemented," Vega says, "but B.U. has focused on special programs while staying away from the major programs of reform because of budget constraints."

Vega is angered by B.U.'s criticism that Chelsea has not maintained the level of program funding promised in the original contract.

"It is ludicrous to whine now about budget problems when those problems were there from the beginning," Vega says. "We didn't need to go into a 10-year-program to realize we had budget constraints."

Despite Chelsea's difficulties keeping up funding, Carleton says that the programs will continue. Chelsea has received five million dollars in philanthropic grants and two million directly from the university, but day-to-day money for the project comes from Chelsea's own budget and state funds.

"Our services are pro bono as long as the city maintains the level of funding each year," Carleton says. "The programs are paid by philanthropic grants, but the city has had to cut funding each year, which has technically broken our contract."

But Vega and others say they are skeptical of B.U.'s altruism.

"The contract may be non-profit in the financial sense, but B.U. has gained profit in publicity," Vega says. "This program is known nation-wide."

Lorraine Ruby, an art teacher at Chelsea High and the executive vice-president in the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers, agrees.

"Turning over public money to a private corporation is a trend toward the downfall of democracy," says Ruby, who is part of the Chelsea Teacher's Union's lawsuit against the school committee. "B.U. is reaping benefits, using the public's pocket to fund its own programs."

But a great deal of the program's fame does derive from its successes. Clemente points to other changes, including a 20 percent raise in teacher salaries, a proposition in legislature for funding to rebuild many of the school buildings and the establishment of two annual scholarships to B.U. for Chelsea students.

B.U. has also aided the school's newspaper, student government, and computer literacy courses. Other projects encourage university staff and student volunteers to tutor and perform other educational work in Chelsea. "I spend a lot of time working in Chelsea," Clemente says.

Chelsea High School senior Regina Stec says the arrival of B.U. tutors has been a two-way street. "They are learning to teach in a place with all the challenges," Stec said. "It's given us a new outlook on things."

Stec says a number of B.U.-initiated programs have encouraged students to learn. The Academy for Educators program allows students interested in becoming teachers a chance to teach in the classroom. Another addition is a night program for students who have dropped out of school and want to return.

But the improvements don't end at the high school. "We started a pre-school program in 1989 to prepare them for kindergarten," Carleton says. "This year the program is available to any child in Chelsea who needs or wants it."

Yet another program involves working with the parents of students. "We are teaching adults how to read so that parents in turn will read to their children," Carleton says.

Despite all the new programs, Amy Ringer, a Chelsea senior, criticizes B.U.'s focus on early learning programs over changes at the higher education levels. "They should be making improvements at both ends so that we can meet in the middle," Ringer says.

And Ringer says that while she would encourage similar models of reform for other struggling school systems, there is a lack of any real means for students to voice their complaints and suggestions. "There is no one [from B.U.] in the school to talk to who has real power," she says.

The students blame the media for Chelsea's negative image in surrounding communities, but agree the university is helping to improve the city's reputation.

"People shy away from Chelsea like there's something wrong with this place," Ringer says. "Actually, the teachers encourage a warm, friendly, multicultural atmosphere. It's not like the newspaper says. People should come check us out."

While many students such as Ringer and Stec support B.U.'s presence, university officials and Chelsea community leaders disagree over the final outcome of the 10-year project.

Carleton says that at the end of the 10-year contract, he believes Chelsea will continue to maintain the new improvements itself.

"We hope that by the time the project reaches the end of the contract period, the Chelsea community will be capable of self-government," Clemente says. "Hopefully B.U. will continue to offer help when it can, but no formal discussions have been held, as of yet."

Vega is not so optimistic.

"We're in for 10 years with no indication that the programs they have set will continue where they left off," Vega said. "What good is 10 years of reform to end back where we started with the community unable to take over the unfinished programs?"

But Carleton maintains that the programs are slowly and surely having a positive influence, and will eventually result in enduring changes.

"We are trying to prepare students to learn and teachers to teach by preparing a proper curriculum worth learning," Carleton says. "The situation is not sweetness and light. It's not a performance of miracles."