The Brookline School Committee voted to eliminate the Office of Educational Equity March 13. In response, Brookline community groups are raising money, attempting to fund the equity positions themselves.
In a divided 5-4 vote, Brookline school administrators estimated this cut will save approximately $400,000 in next year’s budget.
School Committee member Jesse Hefter voted for the OEE elimination. Hefter said the committee received a recommendation from the Public Schools of Brookline Superintendent that the OEE was a “viable option” to cut.
“Neither the school superintendent nor the Office of Educational Equity could really provide us with a deep and meaningful quantitative assessment of the impact that it’s had,” Hefter said.
School Committee member Steven Ehrenberg, who voted against the elimination, said the office did what he considers “firefighting” in schools.
“[The OEE] provided a lot of support to principals in developing their activities to deal with problems on a school-by-school basis,” Ehrenberg said. “It dealt with a lot of discrimination and bullying cases.”
Christy Rodriguez, a mother of three Brookline students, said part of the reason she moved to Brookline was for the school district’s commitment to equity and inclusion.
“When we’re doing things like closing OEE in this climate, it is sending a message that is suggesting Brookline is not the progressive place that it purports to be,” Rodriguez said. “It’s suggesting that we’re scared of federal consequences.”
Hefter said the elimination of the OEE does not mean Brookline schools will become less equitable.
“The strategic vision of our district remains to be committed as a district and as a school community to equitable access to education for all students,” Hefter said. “I believe firmly that our faculty, our staff, our parent body, is committed to those principles as well.”
The coalition developed in response to the vote includes the Brookline Community Foundation, Brookline for Racial Justice & Equity, the Brookline Asian American Family Network and the Brookline Justice League.
Raul Fernandez, executive director of Brookline for Racial Justice & Equity and a senior lecturer at Boston University Wheelock College of Education, said there needs to be a long-term investment to see changes in equity.
“If you care about equity, as so many of these school committee members say they do, you need to invest in it in the long-run, not in the short-run,” Fernandez said. “This was not a cut that needed to be made. It sets us back as a district. It aligns us with the Trump administration.”
The coalition’s goal is to raise $205,000, which will fund one of the two current positions in OEE for next school year. If that goal is reached, the coalition will aim to raise $170,000 more to reinstate the second position and fully restore OEE for next year, Fernandez said.
He said several groups in the coalition contributed money, collectively raising about $85,000. Brookline for Racial Justice & Equity began a fundraising campaign Wednesday and has already raised more than $92,000.
Fernandez said with the OEE’s elimination, the two OEE staffers’ positions are “uncertain.” Because of this, the coalition is working to raise this money “urgently.”
The goal of fundraising is not just to save the equity positions for the following year but to preserve equity positions long-term in Brookline schools, Fernandez said.
“Our goal is to put this office on a sustainable path,” he said. “The goal here is to make sure that we save this office this year but work with the administration to ensure that that office is preserved for subsequent years.”
Ehrenberg said he is “glad” this fundraising may be able to restore equity services in Brookline Schools, but it’s unfair to “burden” volunteers with fundraising.
“It’s very disappointing that we’re in a position that we have to privately fund it,” Rodriguez said.
Ehrenberg said the budget gap motivating this cut is because certain costs are difficult to predict and were higher than expected. Other areas of the 2026 budget lack clarity, he said.
“We are doing an audit into our town’s budget management to understand what is going on,” Ehrenberg said. “It’s a situation that I think requires a lot of clarity for the credibility of the public schools.”
Hefter said equity and inclusion should be a “really deep personal commitment” for each district employee.
Therefore, even without the OEE, these values “should be ongoing anyway,” he said.
School Committee Member Sarah Moghtader, who voted against the elimination of the OEE, said it’s difficult to expect teachers to promote equity without support or resources.
“If you think about that teacher in their classroom that’s trying to reach all kids, that’s a big, heavy lift when you’ve got all the other things that we ask our teachers to do,” Moghtader said.
Moghtader said she is concerned that dealing with incidents of racial bias will be unsupported.
“Those incidents are highly sensitive, and they take a lot of time,” Moghtader said. “So, if we want to make sure that we’re fair and we react to what’s happening, I think that we need the Office of Educational Equity.”
Incidents of racial bias at Brookline schools occurred in the past, including an incident in July 2024 involving a civil rights complaint being filed against the district.
Fernandez cited this incident along with gaps in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System scores for students of color as examples of why the OEE is needed.
Rodriguez also said these “educational inequities” need to be addressed.
“When we close OEE, we’re really kind of hitting things on all ends,” she said. “We’re unable to address educational inequities as we need to, and then we’re unable to respond, as we should be, to racist incidents that are happening.”
Looking ahead, Hefter said there are no replacement plans in place to address the work of the OEE, but he said these responsibilities will likely fall to the Office of Student Services.
“[The OEE’s work] will have to be shouldered in another part of the organization, but it remains an important component of what we do,” Hefter said.
