The Greater Lawrence Education Justice Alliance has been fighting to get Lawrence Public Schools back in the control of Lawrence residents since 2016. Our schools have reached a boiling point and with the media and state attention on the fights at the Lawrence High, now is the time to make sure that their attention is on the 10 years of mismanagement that has led to these conflicts.

Please send this letter out. It will go to the Joint Committee on Education, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Commissioner, and the Lawrence Alliance on Education.

Our city, our schools!

Addressed to: Commissioner Jeff Riley, Members of the Board of the Dept. of Elementary Secondary Education (BESE), Members of the Joint Committee on Education, and members of the Lawrence Alliance for Education.

The Greater Lawrence Education Justice Alliance (GLEJA) is a collective of community members, educators and elected officials who call Lawrence home, and are deeply concerned for the wellbeing and future of our community.

On Monday, October 18th, with the resounding support of hundreds of community members, the democratically elected Lawrence School Committee voted to petition the Commissioner to end the receivership of the Lawrence Public Schools. This letter serves to amplify the voices of Lawrence residents who are demanding their right to full representation and democratic control of their schools.

The crisis at the Lawrence High School represents the culmination of the complex trauma experienced by our students compounded by years of mismanagement and lack of accountability from the Receiver. Throughout the district, these failures are characterized by the state receivership neglecting to prioritize student wellbeing.

The receivership, since its inception in 2011, has failed to properly respond to student’s social and emotional needs and we hold Commissioner Jeff Riley directly responsible. In the last 10 years our schools have not made ‘adequate’ progress, according to the Turnaround plan implemented by DESE- a plan that has not evolved in the last decade. In reality, the receivership has exacerbated inequities in the following ways;

• Failing to create a safe learning environment and fueling a toxic school climate

• College going/persistence rates are still at or below average in comparison with other gateway cities across MA.

• Course completion rates at Northern Essex Community College (where over 70% of our high school graduates attend) have slightly declined since receivership started.

• Teacher turnover has almost doubled (to nearly 30%)

• Failing to authentically engage or support various stakeholders including parents, educators and the elected school committee.

• Mechanized learning and narrowing of curriculum in order to teach to the MCAS test.
  (all data provided by DESE)

Furthermore, the root of these issues lies in a racist and classist Receivership Law that lends tremendous power to the hands of the Commissioner without any systems of accountability or checks and balances. This law allows the Commissioner to undo the power of the vote in selected communities and sets up a power dynamic that is totalitarian in nature.

GLEJA demands that the state, Commissioner Jeff Riley, DESE and members of the state delegation who represent Lawrence, take ownership of remediating the root cause of the crisis- ending receivership and restoring democratic control.  

In order to create a safe and nurturing environment for every student within the district we the undersigned demand that DESE immediately return full rights to our democratically elected school board and reestablish all rights to every labor union within the district as defined by Mass General Law 150 - E.

Thank you