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Boston officials offered a spirited defense of their schools Tuesday as the state board of education weighed its response to a damning audit of the district that found it was mired in 鈥渆ntrenched dysfunction.鈥�

Mayor Michelle Wu warned that the most dire option, a state takeover, would be 鈥渃ounterproductive鈥� at a time when she is trying to elevate district management, including reaching a tentative agreement with the Boston school bus driver鈥檚 union to reform a school transportation system that has been .

鈥淣o one is better equipped to accelerate the progress Boston has made than our Boston Public Schools communities,鈥� she said at Tuesday鈥檚 meeting of the state board.

Wu was part of a stream of politicians, teachers, and parents who offered more than an hour of public commentary opposing a takeover and arguing that Boston should be given the opportunity to solve its academic and organizational problems. The meeting came a day after the state released a 188-page report outlining systemic problems facing the district and calling for 鈥渋mmediate鈥� action on behalf of its nearly 46,000 students.

Massachusetts Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley didn鈥檛 show his hand on the subject of a takeover Tuesday, but called the audit鈥檚 revelations 鈥渆xtremely disheartening,鈥� with structural improvements needed across six dimensions: safety, transportation, special education, English learners, data transparency, and facilities.

鈥淭here are just a myriad of problems here, many of them emanating from a bloated central office that is often incapable of performing the most basic functions,鈥� he said.

State law stipulates that such an audit must be completed before a takeover, known locally as receivership, can proceed. pointed to a district office plagued by rapid turnover; inadequate services for English learners and special needs students; and what it called 鈥渁 pattern of inaccurate or misleading data reporting鈥� on issues as disparate as graduation rates, bus routes, and bathroom renovations. 

Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz 鈥� a Boston Democrat currently waging a progressive campaign for governor 鈥� addressed the board members as a former classroom teacher and current public school parent, evoking the difficulties of previous receiverships attempted in other Massachusetts cities.

鈥淲hat I urge you to do today is to keep working in partnership with Boston to hasten improvements for BPS students rather than erode parent voice and local democracy by triggering receivership,鈥� Chang-Diaz argued. 鈥淲e have new leadership in our mayor and will soon have a new superintendent鈥�.They deserve a chance at bat.鈥�

With the report now in public view, the next steps will be taken by Mayor Wu, who has already met with both Riley and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker to discuss a possible collaboration with Boston Public Schools that could initiate needed reforms while stopping short of full receivership. Riley said he hoped to have a 鈥渟tatement of assurances鈥� from the mayor around the need for improvements in key functions 鈥� particularly transportation and data reporting 鈥� within 鈥渁 week or so.鈥� 

Matt Hills, a director at a private equity firm who is so far the only board member to have publicly supported receivership, advocated for a decision to be reached quickly, proposing that 鈥渋f God was superintendent, God would need receivership to be effective here.鈥�

After the statement aroused angry murmuring among audience members, he continued.

鈥淲hen is enough enough? When are you prepared to act?鈥�

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