Tommy Chang To Resign As Superintendent Of Boston Public Schools

BOSTON, MA — Tommy Chang is stepping down from his position as superintendent of Boston Public Schools, according to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh Friday.

The mayor said it was a "mutually agreed" that it was time.

"Over the past year, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the progress we have made to improve education in Boston and the significant work ahead to ensure that we successfully reach the ambitious goals we have set for our students and schools. After several conversations with Tommy Chang about the future of Boston Public Schools, we have mutually agreed that there needs to be a change in leadership at BPS," said Walsh in an emailed statement to Patch.

Walsh supported the move to hire Change in 2015, calling him the innovative, "transformative leader," the school system needed.

But now, the mayor said it's time for someone to implement the education plan.

"In order to successfully implement our education agenda, we need a long-term education leader with a proven record in management who can gain the confidence of the community on the strategic vision for the district and execute on the many initiatives that have been identified as priorities for our students and schools," said the mayor.

Chang has overseen the city's some 128 schools serving about 57,000 students for the past three years. He told the Boston Globe he doesn't have a back up job lined up. Before he came to Boston, Chang was a superintendent of schools in Los Angeles.

In recent years, the Boston school system has seen a rising graduation rate and improved MCAS scores, but several kinds of minorities have noticed stubborn achievement gaps when studying across the school system.

Chang replaced Carol Johnson, who had announced her retirement in April 2013, almost two years before she stepped down.

Chang, 39, was the youngest of the seven finalists back in 2015, he had experience teaching in Compton and 2 and a half years as a superintendent. A native of Taiwan, he came to the US with his family when he was 6 years old.

About 30 minutes before the news broke, Change announced he appointed Matt Montaño, the deputy cabinet secretary for Teaching and Learning at the New Mexico Public Education Department, as the district’s new deputy superintendent of Academics and Student Supports for Equity Team, known as ASSET.

This is breaking. More to come in this space soon.

Also today regarding Boston Public Schools:

Civil Rights Group Sues Boston Public Schools, After ICE Incident

File Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch