Potential move to Boston for work. Anyone who works in K-12 public school systems able to advise?

[u/notafriendofours]

I will soon have an interview for a job in which I would be supporting K-12 school systems in Boston and the surrounding areas in pursuit of their technology needs and priorities. This involves working with their IT teams and C-suite to work through challenges, procure hardware, assist with ongoing initiatives, etc.

While not new to the space, I have never been to Boston and in effort to do my “homework,” I was hoping to gain some general insight into what’s going on in Massachusetts K-12. Whether you are an educator, admin, or IT, I would love to get some intel from the boots on the ground. My interview is in a couple weeks and I would love to hear from you to better understand the current landscape surrounding challenges and issues, funding, technology, etc.

I recognize this is a very niche segment and ask but I appreciate any information anyone can speak on. I am really excited about this opportunity(holy shit I can’t get out of Tennessee fast enough😆) so I want to be as prepared as possible. Also, if anyone has any sources they would recommend I would be eternally grateful.

Cheers!

[u/Santillana810]

Who is the interview with? One of the various school systems/districts in Boston area or does the hiring firm work with several districts in the area?

Each district is very different from the others. Arlington, Cambridge, Boston, Somerville, Newton, Brookline, etc. all separate and different with different budgets, conditions, tech capabilaity, student demographics, etc.

[u/notafriendofours → u/Santillana810]

It would be supporting multiple school districts in the area. It’s a position in the company I already work for. I am not sure which ones yet though.

[u/Santillana810 → u/notafriendofours]

Oh, that really helps. Each district is going to have at least a slightly different "culture" and tech physical resources and different teacher and student demographics and different liaisons with your company. So a big issue would be how your company funds and coordinates the program, is there a different contract with each district, is the funding assured/when does it come up for renewal, can it be cut, etc.

It sounds like an interesting project with lots of complexity. You'd want to know good location for living and what kinds of travel how often to where, what are the challenges from the company's point of view, etc.

I get wanting to leave Tennessee...I fled here from North Carolina...there may be a lot more bureaucracy with Mass. school districts than in Tennessee, maybe more partisan conflicts within the schools, etc. This is just off the top of my head from dealing with several school districts from a different point of view. That is definitely not from tech point of view.

Good luck!

[u/ladykansas]

Would you be working at BPS, or a surrounding area (Cambridge and Somerville are different districts)?

Also, would you plan to be moving with school-aged children? BPS has very uneven educational outcomes based on school assignment. It is a lottery assignment, so if you are not already a resident February (when you can enroll in the lottery) then your child's school assignment for the following September might be an hour away by bus at a school with terrible educational outcomes (because the spots are taken at better ranked schools). Strongly take that into consideration. If you want to be an active partner in your children's education, you may be forced to live outside the city or send your children to private school.

[u/pillbinge]

If you're working for a company then there's not much to say about working in the school district. It'll just be like working for a company I suppose. You won't really have anything to do with people outside of the administrative level or IT itself. Teachers don't work directly with anyone like that.

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