BOSTON — Ads aimed at raising awareness about the state of education within Boston Public Schools have been pulled by the MBTA in less than 48 hours.
A new coalition of longtime education advocates and concerned citizens issued a call to action to say Boston Public Schools’ students deserve better.
Organizers say they’ve entered the conversation because the data shows students are getting lost in translation.
Vernee Wilkinson, project support with Next Chapter Boston, says “there’s a huge gap in the outcomes for K-12,” and says it’s happening in a city that’s so well known for higher education.
“This could be considered Boston’s best-kept secret,” Wilkerson said. “Within the last 24 hours, we’ve learned that those ads are no longer up and that they were being pulled as of last night.”
Now, Next Chapter of Boston is asking why? Because they say that thinking about raising awareness of where BPS K through 12 students really are in both reading and math, and getting them the resources they need to succeed, is somehow controversial and upsetting.
“We really all don’t want to be in a situation where this might be something along the lines of censorship that would be really alarming and upsetting,” Wilkinson added. “We are hoping that’s not the case, and simultaneously we don’t want this to overshadow the reality that BPS students deserve a better quality education.”
Boston 25 has reached out to both BPS and the MBTA for comment. BPS says that they haven’t had any communication with the T regarding the advertisements.
The MBTA says that the ads were pulled after not meeting their guidelines.
<i>The proposed ads do not comply with the viewpoint neutral restrictions contained in the MBTA guidelines relating to standards and permissible categories for advertising on MBTA property. The ads were posted by one of the MBTA’s advertising contractors without the required MBTA review for compliance with the advertising guidelines. The MBTA contacted the contractor and made them aware of the issue and as a result, the ads were removed to ensure compliance with the guidelines. As a general matter, the MBTA does not accept political advertisements or issue advocacy or endorsements under its Guidelines.</i>
— MBTA
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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