Podcast appearances and mentions of brenda cassellius

Dr. Brenda Cassellius is Milwaukee Public Schools' new superintendent. What are her priorities for her first year on the job?

Dr. Brenda Cassellius is Milwaukee Public Schools' new superintendent. What are her priorities for her first year on the job?

Milwaukee Public Schools has not had a permanent superintendent since June 2024, when Keith Posley resigned amid allegations of mismanagement.

A lot has to change for us to find our place and help our world regain its health. One of the greatest needs to get there is to raise our kids to know their place so they make better choices than previous generations. Brenda Cassellius, Exec Dir of Fresh Energy (fresh-energy.org) and previously Sup't of Boston Public Schools, and MN Sec of Education will share from her experience what she sees as hope and action areas for all of us, but especially our children.

Minnesota's Brenda Cassellius grew up in public housing in Minneapolis and she considers that her greatest asset.“I grew up in poverty but there was never a poverty of love,” she said, stressing that it's possible to get out of poverty and chart your own path. “It instilled in me to give back.” Cassellius has given back to communities by spending decades working in education.She was the first African American woman in Minnesota history to serve as the commissioner of education, under Gov. Mark Dayton.She was later the superintendent of Boston Public Schools, including throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and was a leader in bringing a climate plan that makes schools in the district more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. Now Cassellius is back in Minnesota and she recently started her position as the executive director of Fresh Energy, a nonprofit aimed at transitioning our state to clean energy. She also mentors women of color who are school district superintendents and leaders of large organizations. Also, hear from our listeners who called in to talk about their personal stories of growing up from humble beginnings and later overcoming a path of obstacles. Guests: Brenda Cassellius is the new executive director of Fresh Energy, a non-profit aimed at transitioning Minnesota to clean energy. She formerly worked for three decades in public education, including as Minnesota's education commissioner and as superintendent for Boston Public Schools.Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.   

Minnesota's Brenda Cassellius grew up in public housing in Minneapolis and she considers that her greatest asset. “I grew up in poverty but there was never a poverty of love,” she said, stressing that it's possible to get out of poverty and chart your own path. “It instilled in me to give back.”  Cassellius has given back to communities by spending decades working in education. She was the first African American woman in Minnesota history to serve as the commissioner of education, under Gov. Mark Dayton. She was later the superintendent of Boston Public Schools, including throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and was a leader in bringing a climate plan that makes schools in the district more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.  Now Cassellius is back in Minnesota and she recently started her position as the executive director of Fresh Energy, a nonprofit aimed at transitioning our state to clean energy.  She also mentors women of color who are school district superintendents and leaders of large organizations.  Also, hear from our listeners who called in to talk about their personal stories of growing up from humble beginnings and later overcoming a path of obstacles. Guests:  Brenda Cassellius is the new executive director of Fresh Energy, a non-profit aimed at transitioning Minnesota to clean energy. She formerly worked for three decades in public education, including as Minnesota's education commissioner and as superintendent for Boston Public Schools. Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.  Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.   

The pandemic had a devastating effect on everyone involved in Minnesota education. Teachers are burned out, staff shortages abound, and students are years behind where they should be in crucial subjects. How do we support the education system and work to catch kids up? As we take stock midway through a school year that feels a little more like normal, In Focus takes on the topic of COVID learning loss. Test scores are dismal, but work is already being done to fill in the gaps. Join MPR News host Angela Davis and a panel of education professionals as they talk about what they are seeing on the front lines of education and what to do to confront it. Guests: Josh Crosson is the executive director of Ed Allies, an organization that works to ensure that all Minnesota students, especially those most underserved, have access to a great education. Rachel Pearson is a parent advocate and trainer at the PACER Center, a nonprofit that champions youth with disabilities and their families. Brenda Cassellius has spent three decades as an educator – most recently as the superintendent of Boston Public Schools, and before that, as Minnesota's Commissioner of Education. To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above. Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

The pandemic had a devastating effect on everyone involved in Minnesota education. Teachers are burned out, staff shortages abound, and students are years behind where they should be in crucial subjects. How do we support the education system and catch kids up? Test scores are dismal, but educators, families and communities are working to fill in the gaps. A group of education professionals shared what they are seeing at school with MPR News host Angela Davis. Together they explored what to do to confront the challenges. Guests: Josh Crosson is the executive director of Ed Allies, an organization that works to ensure that all Minnesota students, especially those most underserved, have access to a great education. Rachel Pearson is a parent advocate and trainer at the PACER Center, a nonprofit that champions youth with disabilities and their families. Brenda Cassellius has spent three decades as an educator – most recently as the superintendent of Boston Public Schools, and before that, as Minnesota's Commissioner of Education. Here are five key moments from the conversation. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Click the audio player or video above to listen to the full conversation. What exactly are we facing with COVID learning loss? To what extent can we quantify it? Josh Crosson: We have the data that is coming from the National Assessments and the State Assessments. There is a steady reduction in math and reading even before the pandemic happened. And when you look at fourth grade reading, especially in Minnesota, we have for the first time dropped below the national average for all students in reading. We have seen that COVID has exacerbated those disparities and students of color, students with disabilities, low income learners, and English language learners were hit particularly hard. Brenda Cassellius: Even though the numbers are not exact, the difficulties are very real. Our children are asking for help with their own sense of agency around advocating for their peers and for themselves as well. What I think is most striking is the intersectionality of the data of our students who are in special education, students of color, students in poverty, students who are EO (English only), and all of those barriers in front of them in terms of getting a great education. We should be looking at all the ways in which they are struggling, particularly our most vulnerable kids. Rachel Pearson: We hear parents tell us every day about the loss that their students with disabilities experienced during the pandemic, and parents that had a bird's eye view because education moved into the home setting. The loss is tangible and palpable, we do not have hardcore numbers yet to describe it, though. Was remote learning and not having the tools a big part of why we saw the slide backwards? Brenda Cassellius: It absolutely was. There were teachers who really did not know how to use computers even, and then there were communication problems with families who spoke a language other than English at home. So we purchased a program that helped through text so that when you speak in English, it goes over in the other language, and then they could understand and they could speak that language back, and then the teachers could read it in English. I want to thank our families, because being in a remote environment was brand new and we could not have done it without them. Josh Crosson: At the start of the pandemic, about 17 percent of Minnesotans did not have access to a computer or internet, and that was a huge slide especially in great and rural Minnesota where the service is choppy in certain areas. Poverty and express needs based on income, is absolutely something that we need to be addressing. Rachel Pearson: One of the biggest issues for students with disabilities is getting a one-on-one personal device into the hands of students and getting any IT literacy available to the parents and the family. Moreover, access was a matter of just instruction losing all meaning when it was communicated and provided to them remotely. They could not access it because it did not work for them. Help us understand the impact on students with disabilities. Rachel Pearson: There are students with learning disabilities who use particular forms of assistive technology in the classroom. Getting them access to that assistive technology to connect to their classroom was difficult. Another sample of students with behavioral disabilities are the ones who rely on the support of a paraprofessional to participate successfully in a classroom. Well, school districts did not have the capacity to send one-to-one paraprofessionals or shared paraprofessionals home. So parents were attempting to fulfill that role if they were available. In Minnesota, there is a law that mandates schools help families of students with an existing IEP (individualized education plan) come up with a path forward. Despite being an important law, parents had to learn all of the vocabulary around eligibility determination process and to present evidence. It was not enough to say, yes, my child was harmed by distance learning. Brenda Cassellius: It was heart wrenching as a superintendent to not be able to serve our special needs students, particularly our students with complex needs, like PT (physical therapy). I would be in zoom calls with parents who were sobbing, because they were watching their children regress. And we could not deploy enough services because the complex needs were so great that they had multiple service providers in the school for their individual education plans. So we designed a committee with parents, union teacher leaders, administrators and students, to try to figure out how can we get our highest need priority kids back to school as soon as possible. Josh Crosson: I think what we are seeing is a mental health crisis in our schools as well. Talking to parents, to educators, to students, mental health needs and concerns are being highlighted, which are not necessarily being captured by our IEPs, or our special education services. It is bringing up new issues around COVID recovery that we need to address immediately. What are the impacts of the teacher shortage? Brenda Cassellius: We cannot get good test scores or student achievement if we do not have a caring and competent teacher in every single classroom. Unfortunately, teachers are not coming into the field because of the perceptions that it is a very difficult and low payed job. Several years ago, Minnesota passed the tiered licensing that allows teachers to have a tiered system to get into entry level positions, and then grow and become a master teacher. We need more innovation around that. And then we need more diverse teachers who understand the cultural competence of the students and are able to work with students with multiple disabilities Josh Crosson: In the state of Minnesota we define a shortage as any teacher currently in the classroom, that has an entry level teaching position. We are calling a teachers who are in front of our students, who are doing well by many measures, a shortage, a deficit. Twenty five percent of them are our teachers of color. Minnesota invested $400,000 in a program called “Come teach in Minnesota” since we are the fifth widest Teaching Cohort in the nation. We got six people to move to the state but they did not qualify because they were coming in at that entry level license, as a tier two license teacher. Rachel Pearson: There is also a massive paraprofessional shortage in school districts across the state. When the number of paraprofessionals goes down, the students with disabilities who rely on them to be successful, could lose their inclusion opportunity. That is just tremendously hurtful for students with disabilities. There are also bus driver shortages across the state. And means that school districts have to send bus drivers out on early routes and late routes. As a consequence, students with disabilities are going home early and missing part of their last class at school, which is a violation of their right to free and appropriate public education. What role does tutoring play moving forward? Josh Crosson: We know high dosage tutoring works very well. What we are still trying to figure out is how to get that tutoring in an equitable way. How are we providing transportation services? How are we educating parents and students about these opportunities?, and incentivizing these opportunities as well. Unfortunately, when we do not have substitutes, or bus drivers, those roles are being filled by reading specialists and by tutors. In rural Minnesota, we have seen the principal being a bus driver and the principal. Rachel Pearson: A tutor brings an extra injection of services across the board, specially from the perspective of students with disabilities. Whether that is mental health support, getting out into the community for employment, reading skills, and independent living skills, whether that is an extra heavy dose of of learning Braille, learning sign language, assistive technology literacy, social skills… all of these things are needed to be poured into our students now. Brenda Cassellius: It is going to take along time to dig ourselves out of the hole. I would say 10 years of effort. It will have to be intentional, even with tutoring. People think that getting tutors is a quick fix and all of a sudden students are going to know these concepts and be able to thrive. This is a much more complex situation and it will be down to the individual student family level to see progress. Story Circle highlights Last week, MPR's Community Engagement team hosted a Story Circle for educators, students and parents in Minnesota to share their experience with COVID learning loss.  Suki Mozenter, education teacher at the University of Minnesota Duluth:  What did kids learn during the pandemic? They learned that everything can completely fall apart. They learned that they can lose the people who care for them. They learned that being together can be unsafe, to the point where we had to stay away from each other. That being alone can be awful and really lonely. When we talk about learning loss, it shifts away from what our kids have learned and what we need to then teach them so they can cope with this new learning. Kija Deer, Jacob Stanoch and E. Meier, who were in school when COVID broke out: Kija Deer: I was a junior going into the COVID era. I was not really doing much of my schoolwork, I was just letting it build up because I was like, it is online. I can do it whenever. So I did not graduate the year I was supposed to.    Jacob Stanoch: Especially during the pandemic, there was a lack of motivation to get things done. They are not doing as much so they are not learning as much. Since they are not learning as much, they do not care as much. We wanted to go back into the classroom and go back to the traditional way of learning because of the social aspects that came with being in a classroom. We did not want to adapt to this new learning style and be online only talking through social media.  E. Meier: I like the idea of being able to learn more independently. I consider myself a strong writer, so it had been nice to not be babysat through papers and assignments that I knew how to do. Hopping on and getting your assignment and hopping off Zoom was kinda nice.   Ayan Omar, former language arts teacher and current equity director for St. Cloud public schools:   I am seeing more and more classroom teachers where the kid has 53 missing assignments. They are just trying to find a way to equip this student with the skills necessary to do better. Not necessarily to get caught up. If you are a couple of grade levels behind in reading, what skills do you need to face tomorrow? So that gives me hope that, not only are parents really evaluating their own approach to their own children, but we have teachers willing to say: this kid is not going to understand Shakespeare, but I am going to teach him how to make friends.  To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above. Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

The pandemic had a devastating effect on everyone involved in Minnesota education. Teachers are burned out, staff shortages abound, and students are years behind where they should be in crucial subjects. How do we support the education system and catch kids up? Test scores are dismal, but educators, families and communities are working to fill in the gaps. A group of education professionals shared what they are seeing at school with MPR News host Angela Davis. Together they explored what to do to confront the challenges. Guests: Josh Crosson is the executive director of Ed Allies, an organization that works to ensure that all Minnesota students, especially those most underserved, have access to a great education. Rachel Pearson is a parent advocate and trainer at the PACER Center, a nonprofit that champions youth with disabilities and their families. Brenda Cassellius has spent three decades as an educator – most recently as the superintendent of Boston Public Schools, and before that, as Minnesota's Commissioner of Education. Here are five key moments from the conversation. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Click the audio player or video above to listen to the full conversation. What exactly are we facing with COVID learning loss? To what extent can we quantify it? Josh Crosson: We have the data that is coming from the National Assessments and the State Assessments. There is a steady reduction in math and reading even before the pandemic happened. And when you look at fourth grade reading, especially in Minnesota, we have for the first time dropped below the national average for all students in reading. We have seen that COVID has exacerbated those disparities and students of color, students with disabilities, low income learners, and English language learners were hit particularly hard. Brenda Cassellius: Even though the numbers are not exact, the difficulties are very real. Our children are asking for help with their own sense of agency around advocating for their peers and for themselves as well. What I think is most striking is the intersectionality of the data of our students who are in special education, students of color, students in poverty, students who are EO (English only), and all of those barriers in front of them in terms of getting a great education. We should be looking at all the ways in which they are struggling, particularly our most vulnerable kids. Rachel Pearson: We hear parents tell us every day about the loss that their students with disabilities experienced during the pandemic, and parents that had a bird's eye view because education moved into the home setting. The loss is tangible and palpable, we do not have hardcore numbers yet to describe it, though. Was remote learning and not having the tools a big part of why we saw the slide backwards? Brenda Cassellius: It absolutely was. There were teachers who really did not know how to use computers even, and then there were communication problems with families who spoke a language other than English at home. So we purchased a program that helped through text so that when you speak in English, it goes over in the other language, and then they could understand and they could speak that language back, and then the teachers could read it in English. I want to thank our families, because being in a remote environment was brand new and we could not have done it without them. Josh Crosson: At the start of the pandemic, about 17 percent of Minnesotans did not have access to a computer or internet, and that was a huge slide especially in great and rural Minnesota where the service is choppy in certain areas. Poverty and express needs based on income, is absolutely something that we need to be addressing. Rachel Pearson: One of the biggest issues for students with disabilities is getting a one-on-one personal device into the hands of students and getting any IT literacy available to the parents and the family. Moreover, access was a matter of just instruction losing all meaning when it was communicated and provided to them remotely. They could not access it because it did not work for them. Help us understand the impact on students with disabilities. Rachel Pearson: There are students with learning disabilities who use particular forms of assistive technology in the classroom. Getting them access to that assistive technology to connect to their classroom was difficult. Another sample of students with behavioral disabilities are the ones who rely on the support of a paraprofessional to participate successfully in a classroom. Well, school districts did not have the capacity to send one-to-one paraprofessionals or shared paraprofessionals home. So parents were attempting to fulfill that role if they were available. In Minnesota, there is a law that mandates schools help families of students with an existing IEP (individualized education plan) come up with a path forward. Despite being an important law, parents had to learn all of the vocabulary around eligibility determination process and to present evidence. It was not enough to say, yes, my child was harmed by distance learning. Brenda Cassellius: It was heart wrenching as a superintendent to not be able to serve our special needs students, particularly our students with complex needs, like PT (physical therapy). I would be in zoom calls with parents who were sobbing, because they were watching their children regress. And we could not deploy enough services because the complex needs were so great that they had multiple service providers in the school for their individual education plans. So we designed a committee with parents, union teacher leaders, administrators and students, to try to figure out how can we get our highest need priority kids back to school as soon as possible. Josh Crosson: I think what we are seeing is a mental health crisis in our schools as well. Talking to parents, to educators, to students, mental health needs and concerns are being highlighted, which are not necessarily being captured by our IEPs, or our special education services. It is bringing up new issues around COVID recovery that we need to address immediately. What are the impacts of the teacher shortage? Brenda Cassellius: We cannot get good test scores or student achievement if we do not have a caring and competent teacher in every single classroom. Unfortunately, teachers are not coming into the field because of the perceptions that it is a very difficult and low payed job. Several years ago, Minnesota passed the tiered licensing that allows teachers to have a tiered system to get into entry level positions, and then grow and become a master teacher. We need more innovation around that. And then we need more diverse teachers who understand the cultural competence of the students and are able to work with students with multiple disabilities Josh Crosson: In the state of Minnesota we define a shortage as any teacher currently in the classroom, that has an entry level teaching position. We are calling a teachers who are in front of our students, who are doing well by many measures, a shortage, a deficit. Twenty five percent of them are our teachers of color. Minnesota invested $400,000 in a program called “Come teach in Minnesota” since we are the fifth widest Teaching Cohort in the nation. We got six people to move to the state but they did not qualify because they were coming in at that entry level license, as a tier two license teacher. Rachel Pearson: There is also a massive paraprofessional shortage in school districts across the state. When the number of paraprofessionals goes down, the students with disabilities who rely on them to be successful, could lose their inclusion opportunity. That is just tremendously hurtful for students with disabilities. There are also bus driver shortages across the state. And means that school districts have to send bus drivers out on early routes and late routes. As a consequence, students with disabilities are going home early and missing part of their last class at school, which is a violation of their right to free and appropriate public education. What role does tutoring play moving forward? Josh Crosson: We know high dosage tutoring works very well. What we are still trying to figure out is how to get that tutoring in an equitable way. How are we providing transportation services? How are we educating parents and students about these opportunities?, and incentivizing these opportunities as well. Unfortunately, when we do not have substitutes, or bus drivers, those roles are being filled by reading specialists and by tutors. In rural Minnesota, we have seen the principal being a bus driver and the principal. Rachel Pearson: A tutor brings an extra injection of services across the board, specially from the perspective of students with disabilities. Whether that is mental health support, getting out into the community for employment, reading skills, and independent living skills, whether that is an extra heavy dose of of learning Braille, learning sign language, assistive technology literacy, social skills… all of these things are needed to be poured into our students now. Brenda Cassellius: It is going to take along time to dig ourselves out of the hole. I would say 10 years of effort. It will have to be intentional, even with tutoring. People think that getting tutors is a quick fix and all of a sudden students are going to know these concepts and be able to thrive. This is a much more complex situation and it will be down to the individual student family level to see progress. Story Circle highlights Last week, MPR's Community Engagement team hosted a Story Circle for educators, students and parents in Minnesota to share their experience with COVID learning loss.  Suki Mozenter, education teacher at the University of Minnesota Duluth:  What did kids learn during the pandemic? They learned that everything can completely fall apart. They learned that they can lose the people who care for them. They learned that being together can be unsafe, to the point where we had to stay away from each other. That being alone can be awful and really lonely. When we talk about learning loss, it shifts away from what our kids have learned and what we need to then teach them so they can cope with this new learning. Kija Deer, Jacob Stanoch and E. Meier, who were in school when COVID broke out: Kija Deer: I was a junior going into the COVID era. I was not really doing much of my schoolwork, I was just letting it build up because I was like, it is online. I can do it whenever. So I did not graduate the year I was supposed to.    Jacob Stanoch: Especially during the pandemic, there was a lack of motivation to get things done. They are not doing as much so they are not learning as much. Since they are not learning as much, they do not care as much. We wanted to go back into the classroom and go back to the traditional way of learning because of the social aspects that came with being in a classroom. We did not want to adapt to this new learning style and be online only talking through social media.  E. Meier: I like the idea of being able to learn more independently. I consider myself a strong writer, so it had been nice to not be babysat through papers and assignments that I knew how to do. Hopping on and getting your assignment and hopping off Zoom was kinda nice.   Ayan Omar, former language arts teacher and current equity director for St. Cloud public schools:   I am seeing more and more classroom teachers where the kid has 53 missing assignments. They are just trying to find a way to equip this student with the skills necessary to do better. Not necessarily to get caught up. If you are a couple of grade levels behind in reading, what skills do you need to face tomorrow? So that gives me hope that, not only are parents really evaluating their own approach to their own children, but we have teachers willing to say: this kid is not going to understand Shakespeare, but I am going to teach him how to make friends.  To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above. Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by asking listeners if it's time for Democrats to start being more aggressive to enact political change. Trenni Kusnierek talks about the NFL's push to suspend Deshaun Watson, and WNBA player Brittney Griner's upcoming trial in Russia. Kusnierek is a reporter and anchor for NBC Sports Boston, and a weekly Boston Public Radio contributor. Dr. Brenda Cassellius shares her thoughts on how the pandemic has affected the school system and the search for her replacement. Cassellius is the outgoing superintendent of Boston Public Schools. Jared Bowen discusses the new Designing Motherhood exhibit at the MassArt Museum through the lens of the recent Roe overturning, Maurice Sendak's exhibit at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Lesley Dill's sculpture exhibit at the Canterbury Shaker Village. Bowen is GBH's executive arts editor and the host of Open Studio. Then, we turn to live audio from the Jan. 6 hearings.

The City of Boston has a new mayor, and Mayor Wu and her appointed school committee have begun a search for a new Superintendent of Boston Public Schools. Boston has had 6 superintendents in 16 years - three of whom served Interim roles - and all who worked tirelessly on behalf of students, families and staff to improve aspects of BPS.    What type of leader does BPS need now? What are the city's priorities for our public school system? Who can be successful in the role? What can Bostonians do to make the next Superintendent's term impactful and successful?    In this special series of “Last Night at School Committee,” we bring together more than a dozen community leaders, as well as all 6 superintendents from the last 16 years, and ask them to weigh in on these questions.   In this episode, Jill and Ross are joined by current Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius, who has served since 2019 and will be leaving BPS at the end of this school year.   To learn more and view the full series, please visit BostonSuperintendent.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Good superintendents can be hard to find, and even harder to keep. That's proving to be the case In Boston. Brenda Cassellius is stepping down this summer after less than three years at the helm. James Vaznis, who has covered the schools beat for The Boston Globe since 2008, shares insights on how the leadership churn impacts students, families, and staff. Amid the challenges facing the city's schools: helping high-need students catch up on learning time lost during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic; reconfiguring the grade levels at some of Boston schools amid an enrollment downturn; and the possible switch to an elected school board instead of the current, mayor-appointed. Plus, Vaznis offers suggestions for covering superintendent searches, and story ideas for education reporters.

Good superintendents can be hard to find, and even harder to keep. That's proving to be the case In Boston. Brenda Cassellius is stepping down this summer after less than three years at the helm. James Vaznis, who has covered the schools beat for The Boston Globe since 2008, shares insights on how the leadership churn impacts students, families, and staff. Amid the challenges facing the city's schools: helping high-need students catch up on learning time lost during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic; reconfiguring the grade levels at some of Boston schools amid an enrollment downturn; and the possible switch to an elected school board instead of the current, mayor-appointed. Plus, Vaznis offers suggestions for covering superintendent searches, and story ideas for education reporters.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Congressman Seth Moulton calls on the U.S. to do more to support Ukraine, short of a U.S. enforced no-fly zone, and shares other reactions to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's address to Congress this morning. Moulton represents Massachusetts' 6th Congressional district. Then, we ask listeners their thoughts on Zelensky's speech and U.S. actions in Ukraine. Art Caplan weighs in on the ethics of the West refraining from direct involvement in Ukraine and the 988 mental health crisis helpline. Caplan is the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine in New York City. Juliette Kayyem talks about the Russian anti-war protester who waved a sign on Russian TV and UPS failing to make ferry reservations for its trucks on Nantucket. Kayyem was formerly an assistant secretary for homeland security under President Barack Obama, now the faculty chair of the homeland security program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Her forthcoming book is “The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters.” Superintendent Brenda Cassellius updates listeners on the status of the two people shot outside TechBoston in Dorchester, calls for more measures to promote school staffing growth and retention and gives advice to those thinking of applying for her job as she leaves the role of Superintendent in June. Cassellius is the Superintendent of Boston Public Schools. Jonathan Van Ness previews their newest Netflix show “Getting Curious,” as well as their upcoming comedy performances in Boston. Van Ness is best known for their role as Expert of Grooming on Netflix's reboot of Queer Eye. They also host the Getting Curious podcast, and is performing at the Chevalier Theatre this week as part of their comedy tour: “Imaginary Living Room Olympian” Sy Montgomery dissuades fears about the Joro Spider coming to the Northeast and talks about the creatures found on the recently discovered 1915 shipwreck of “Endurance.” Montgomery is a journalist, naturalist and a Boston Public Radio contributor. Her latest book is “The Hummingbirds' Gift: Wonder, Beauty, and Renewal on Wings.” We end the show by asking listeners whether they're afraid of spiders, and other fears they have.

When BPS superintendent Brenda Cassellius exits this spring after a three-year tenure, she'll be the latest in a series of short-term leaders for the state's biggest public-school system. So what will it take for her successor to turn things around? GBH News politics editor and Latyoa Gale — director of advocacy at Neighborhood Villages Action Fund and, like Peter, a BPS parent—join Adam Reilly with their thoughts. But first: as COVID numbers drop, just how quickly should schools, businesses, and society at large get back to normal? As state and local officials plan some big changes, they're getting pushback from critics who think they're either moving too fast or not moving not fast enough. GBH News's Saraya Wintersmith and Mike Deehan join Adam to talk about what's happening in Boston and beyond.

Brenda Cassellius, Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, joins us to talk about how the district is dealing with a host of challenges, including learning loss, food distribution challenges and getting students to school on time, one month into the new school year.

Boston Public Schools Superintendent Cassellius joins us for a check in as the school year closes out. We then turn to WBUR's Max Larkin for analysis.

Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius joins us, a full year after BPS first closed due to the pandemic. We also speak with WBUR education reporter Max Larkin about the broader reopening across Massachusetts.

Plus, we check in with Segun Idowu, executive director for the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts.

The Superintendent of Boston Public Schools Dr. Brenda Cassellius talks about getting 50,000 kids back into the classroom and what to expect! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius and We Celebrate Erin O'Malleys 20 Years on Mix See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

M.I.T. economist Jonathan Gruber discussed his forthcoming editorial on how the U.S. government might want to use a lottery system to incentivize tracking for Americans who get vaccinated from COVID-19, as a way to gain insight on vaccine effectiveness. We turned to listeners to talk about “pandemic stomach,” amid a spike in Americans buying antacids. Brenda Cassellius, Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, called in to talk about the decision making process behind the reopening of 28 public schools in Boston, and evolving attitudes around whether schooling ought to remain open during the pandemic. She also responded to a range of questions and comments from listeners who phoned in. Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed news on COVID-19 vaccines, from reports of allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine in the U.K., updates on a newly-announced treatment out of China, and the expected timeline for FDA approval of vaccines here in the U.S. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko discussed the latest headlines from the world of tech, including Washington Post reporting on a forthcoming antitrust lawsuit against Facebook, news that Samsung will no longer include chargers with their phones, and NordPass' list of the most-used passwords of 2020. We closed out Wednesday’s show by returning to listeners, to talk about finding ways to laugh through the coronavirus pandemic.

And she has a wonderful message for the students, and one for the parents too! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Karson's Big Announcement and Boston Public Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Boston Superintendent of Schools Brenda Cassellius joined us today to talk about how school is going to look this year.  She gave us so much great information and, more importantly, told us how she thinks the Bruins are going to do in the playoffs!

Today on Boston Public Radio: Boston Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius talked about what her administration is doing to support students during the COVID-19 pandemic, and responded to questions from listeners. We opened lines to hear your thoughts on President Trump’s condemnation of Black Lives Matter protesters. Carol Rose from the Mass. ACLU talked about President Trump’s vow to enact the 213-year-old Insurrection Act, and her thoughts on reforms Massachusetts can and should enact to better protecting resident liberties. Civil Rights Attorney Harvey Silvergate remembered the life of his wife, photographer Elsa Dorfman, who passed away on Saturday. CNN’s John King discussed Trump’s photo-op Monday in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, and other national headlines. We reopened our lines to continue the conversation about Black Lives Matter protests.

Host Arun Rath checks in with a local doctor who says while his hospital has enough ventilators, they don’t have enough masks, despite asking for more. Then, Arun checks in with Boston Public School superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius on how her and city teachers are keeping kids engaged with at home, virtual lessons. We end the show with a conversation with Dr. Robert Davey who is studying the coronavirus in a local lab, the only lab to have a sample of the virus in New England.

Host Arun Rath checks in with a local doctor who says while his hospital has enough ventilators, they don’t have enough masks, despite asking for more. Then, Arun checks in with Boston Public School superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius on how her and city teachers are keeping kids engaged with at home, virtual lessons. We end the show with a conversation with Dr. Robert Davey who is studying the coronavirus in a local lab, the only lab to have a sample of the virus in New England.

WBZ NewsRadio's Jeff Brown spoke with Boston Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius about how remote learning is going during the coronavirus pandemic.

WBZ NewsRadio's Jeff Brown spoke with Boston Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Brenda Cassellius about how remote learning is going during the coronavirus pandemic.

Councilor O'Malley sits down with Dr. Brenda Cassellius to discuss her new role as the Superintendent of Boston Public Schools. Previously, Dr. Cassellius served as Minnesota's commissioner of education. Dr. Cassellius shares her story of what led her to a life of teaching and learning. Follow Dr. Brenda Cassellius on Twitter @BCassellius and Councilor Matt O'Malley on Twitter @MattOMalley

Today on Boston Public Radio: Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press,” weighed in on the latest national news. We asked you about Amy McGrath, who is challenging Mitch McConnell in Kentucky for his Senate seat, and her flip-flop on whether she would have voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice. Former Suffolk County sheriff Andrea Cabral weighed in on the news that ICE is preparing to conduct immigration raids in major American cities. Poet Richard Blanco shared some of his favorite works about summer and the Fourth of July. Former state Secretary of Education and Harvard Graduate School of Education professor Paul Reville discussed new BPS superintendent Brenda Cassellius and her first days on the job. Chris Wilkins and Jo Frances Meyer of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra previewed their season of free outdoor summer concerts. WGBH News reporter Bianca Vásquez-Toness shared her new reporting on how Boston’s Latinx parents are under-represented in school decisions.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung discussed the USWNT’s fight for equal pay. We opened up the lines and asked listeners about burnout, a syndrome resulting from — as Katie Johnston writes in the Boston Globe — “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” Do you have it? Is your burnout score as high as Jim’s? Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem discussed the Jeffrey Epstein case. Boston Globe columnist and author Alex Beam discussed Norman Mailer’s take on the moon landing 50 years ago. New Boston Public Schools superintendent Brenda Cassellius stopped in to chat about her first days on the job. Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn explained the leadership steps and qualities that allowed Americans to put the first man on the moon. Medical ethicist Arthur Caplan looked at an announcement from Netflix to remove images of tobacco use from future programming.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Chuck Todd, host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” weighed in on the debate over whether Attorney General William Barr lied to Congress. Then we opened up the lines and asked listeners for their takes. Andrea Cabral, former Suffolk County Sheriff, state secretary of public safety, and CEO of Ascend, shared her thoughts on political influence in the marijuana industry. BSO Conductor Andris Nelsons previewed their upcoming season. Nancy Koehn, professor at the Harvard Business School, looked at Beyond Meat’s IPO. Last night the Boston School Committee selected their new superintendent: Brenda Cassellius, the former Minnesota education commissioner. Paul Reville, former state secretary of education and professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, weighed in. Jonathon Alsop of the Boston Wine School shared his favorite new wines.

Dr. Brenda Cassellius is the Commissioner of Education in Minnesota. She talks about the accomplishments of the past 8 years and shares a wish for the future. She is the second longest serving state officer in the United States which has provided some continuity and stability in educational leadership in Minnesota. Her closing words were a wish for our superintendents.

Rock The Schools is celebrating all week with airing its most listened to shows. Monday, June 26, will feature a special 100th episode. Rock the Schools thanks and honors all of our special guests who believed in the Rock The Schools mission to empower parents and students. More information can be found at: http://citizen.education Since her appointment as Commissioner of Education in 2010, Dr. Brenda Cassellius has endeavored to enact comprehensive education reform that will benefit every child throughout Minnesota. Her straightforward, community-driven approach toward providing the best education possible has resulted in a remarkable list of accomplishments. Under her leadership, the Minnesota Department of Education applied for and received a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, allowing for a better, fairer, more accurate and supportive accountability system. MDE was awarded a $45 million Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge grant to further develop and strengthen early education efforts. The department was also awarded a $28.2 Federal Public Charter Schools grant to design and implement high-quality charter schools. A respected educator throughout her profession and across partisan lines, Commissioner Cassellius was critical in passing new alternative licensure; principal and teacher evaluation laws; as well as increased funding for PK-12 education; legislation ensuring a sharp, statewide focus on every child reading well by 3rd grade; and expanded access to quality early childhood education. Her reputation as an innovative problem solver can be seen within MDE where Dr. Cassellius has worked with employees to examine every aspect of department operations to ensure the state is providing the best service possible for Minnesota families, educators and students.

Since her appointment as Commissioner of Education in 2010, Dr. Brenda Cassellius has endeavored to enact comprehensive education reform that will benefit every child throughout Minnesota. Her straightforward, community-driven approach toward providing the best education possible has resulted in a remarkable list of accomplishments. Under her leadership, the Minnesota Department of Education applied for and received a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, allowing for a better, fairer, more accurate and supportive accountability system. MDE was awarded a $45 million Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge grant to further develop and strengthen early education efforts. The department was also awarded a $28.2 Federal Public Charter Schools grant to design and implement high-quality charter schools. A respected educator throughout her profession and across partisan lines, Commissioner Cassellius was critical in passing new alternative licensure; principal and teacher evaluation laws; as well as increased funding for PK-12 education; legislation ensuring a sharp, statewide focus on every child reading well by 3rd grade; and expanded access to quality early childhood education. Her reputation as an innovative problem solver can be seen within MDE where Dr. Cassellius has worked with employees to examine every aspect of department operations to ensure the state is providing the best service possible for Minnesota families, educators and students.