Boston Commits $2 Billion to Rebuild All 121 Public School Buildings

BOSTON — July 19, 2026 — Boston Mayor Wu launches $2 billion Green New Deal to rebuild all 121 Boston Public Schools. Mayor Michelle Wu, flanked by School Committee Chair Jeri Robinson, Superintendent Dr. Mary Skipper Casselius, and Boston Teachers Union President Jessica Tang, announced the initiative July 19 at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which along with the neighboring Jackson Mann School is slated for the first phase of construction. The $2 billion figure covers schools at four pipeline stages from needs assessment through final construction and is expected to grow as additional schools advance. American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten traveled from New York to offer the national union's endorsement, calling for Boston to retain local control of its schools. Horace Mann Principal Michelle Eisen-Smith, identified as the district's first deaf school leader, highlighted the building's inadequate visual fire alarms and undersized classrooms as concrete examples of what the investment must address.