Letters to the Editor

Want to help neighborhoods and reduce violence? Improve education

I read with great interest the Banner’s story on city officials conducting a walkthrough of the Dudley Square neighborhood (“Menino reaches out to Dudley Square residents,” June 4, 2009). The mayor has done much good in Dudley Square and the larger Roxbury community during his tenure. His vision to select a well-respected, community-oriented law enforcement practitioner, Edward F. Davis, to become commissioner of the Boston Police Department is a testament to his commitment to the communities of Boston that struggle with effective crime prevention.

However, we all ought to pause and reflect on the mayor’s statement that he and his staff were “going to the people, instead of the people coming to us” to help solve public safety issues. We’re all for reaching out to constituents for guidance, but in an election year, how much of this is political posturing?

In the past, we’ve come to Mayor Menino and other officials to petition for higher-quality public schools because quality, or the lack of it, has significant bearing on the crime we experience on our streets.

The issue of school quality has been with us for a while. From the ruins of urban renewal that leveled the Boardman Elementary School in Roxbury and saw the rise of METCO in the 1960s, to busing in the ’70s, lawsuits at exam schools in the ’90s and a steady adoption of charter schools today, the citizens of Boston have been “bringing it” to our elected officials when it comes to education, Mayor Menino included.

Yet after more than 40 years of engagement, the Boston Public Schools system still cannot lay claim to being one corporation where regardless of which schools our kids attend, parity exists in the education they receive.

It’s frustrating that we continue to miss the connection between laying a solid educational foundation and improved public safety and quality of life on our streets. Why do we need to be reminded of this by a spike in shootings that have claimed good, innocent and promising youth like Soheil Turner?

It goes without saying that city services to keep the lights on and streets clean will help deter crime, and that it’s worth paying attention to the small things. However, police commissioner Davis’ comment that “we pay attention to the small things, and the big things [will] take care of themselves” is troubling, because no city service we provide will pay more dividends in dealing with issues of crime than the service we provide in the classroom. Education is a “big thing” that will not take care of itself, no matter how much we focus on the small things that also require attention.