$2B Green New Deal Coming to Boston Public Schools: Mayor Wu

BOSTON — Mayor Michelle Wu announced a $2 billion investment Thursday into a Green New Deal for Boston Public Schools.

The multi-year process will include an initial assessment phase, which is set to kick off July 1 as long as the funds get approval. The city will conduct a study of public elementary and secondary schools in the district to identify the features each school should have.

Wu outlined an ambitious timeline to fully renovate every school in the district within the next decade. "Our pace cannot be at the usual government speed," she said.

The plan would provide sweeping improvements to Boston schools, from entirely new buildings to school gardens to new boilers and plumbing systems.

"We're starting right here — literally right here — with buildings like this one," Wu said, speaking at a news conference in front of McKinley Elementary School. "And that will not only again give our young people and educators the healthy inspiring spaces they deserve, but reduce our city's carbon footprint, strengthen the ties of community and democracy."

The city also plans to launch a dashboard that will provide information to parents about the progress of the renovations. Each school will receive an overall facility rating, which will determine the priority of each project.

Citing President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal 90 years ago, Wu said her plan would "correct and repair" the New Deal's failure to address racial inequality.

"The projects in this plan are projects that serve some of our most vulnerable students," Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said. "And so centering equity, like the mayor said, is just absolutely critical to the work that we're doing as we move forward."

Mayor Wu last month proposed her administration's first budget, which included $788 million for school capital projects. The money would fund construction projects at six Boston schools, the Boston Globe Reported.

For more information on the Green New Deal for Boston Public Schools, visit the City of Boston's website.