Two city councilors pushing to include all schoolchildren in a new mayoral initiative that waives museum admission fees for Boston Public Schools students had their proposal blocked by a councilor endorsed by the mayor this past election.
Councilors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy, who have been critical of the mayor’s decision to exclude non-BPS students from the program since it was announced in Michelle Wu’s state of the city address last month, introduced a resolution Wednesday that sought to expand the initiative to all students living in Boston.
Flynn and Murphy asked for an immediate favorable vote on the resolution, which they characterized as a chance to rectify the unfair exclusion of many low-income and minority families whose students attend charter, parochial or private schools or take part in the METCO program and can’t afford the cost of a museum visit.
The request prompted an immediate objection by Councilor Sharon Durkan, a former campaign aide to Mayor Michelle Wu who received her endorsement in this past election cycle, which, per Council rules, automatically sent the matter to committee for a hearing and halted further discussion during the day’s meeting.
“I thank our institutions for engaging in this program along with philanthropic interest, but this merits more of a conversation,” Durkan said.
The objection also led to a brief disagreement over which committee the matter should be sent to, with Councilors Liz Breadon and Julia Mejia each making a pitch for it to be considered by the committees they chair.
Council President Ruthzee Louijeune chose to send it to the education committee, and told Flynn after his pitch for a speedy hearing that the scheduling would be determined by the chair of that particular committee, listed as Henry Santana.
“The longer we wait, the less opportunity there is for poor kids from Boston to attend one of these fine museums,” Flynn said. “Let’s give them the same opportunity as every other family does. Why are they being penalized?”
Following the committee assignment, no other councilors signed onto the resolution for expansion of the pilot program, which is somewhat rare for Council hearing orders or resolutions, which typically draw near or unanimous support.
Wu vowed during her State of the City address to waive admission fees at various museums and institutions for BPS students and up to three family members on the first two Sundays of each month through at least August.
Since that late January announcement, pressure has mounted to invite all other city schoolchildren into the program, with Murphy and Flynn pitching a new name, “Sundays for All” and MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale describing the mayor’s decision to exclude charter school students as “politically motivated.”
In a prior statement on the charter schools exclusion earlier this month, a Wu spokesperson said the administration started with just the BPS community to “best understand how to engage community members and improve this program.”
“As we measure and learn, we hope to add more partners and resources to be able to expand the program even further,” the spokesperson said.
The resolution was watched closely by the mayor’s administration on Wednesday, with Wu’s head of intergovernmental relations walking into the Council chamber when it was about to be introduced, which a source speculated may have spooked the other councilors from supporting it.
Murphy and Flynn continued to vow for expansion of the pilot program, which their resolution states is “using tax dollars to fund a large portion of the million dollar expense.”
“This is disappointing that our colleagues didn’t sign on with us to support all families in Boston,” Murphy said. “When the city offers a free program for only certain students to benefit from, I am not OK with that.”
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