Ten O'Clock News

(background crowd noise) [Reporter] Everyone interested in the future of Boston's public schools had to wait months for this night and they got 30 seconds each to speak their piece. [Jim Hobby] I'm from south Boston. We have one of the highest dropout rates. Kids are hanging out on corners. There's no, there's nothing to bring them back into the school. Nobody's going after them. It just doesn't seem like you're doing your job, Dr. Wilson. It's crazy. I don't have too much to say, but I just, I think they ought to send you back where you came from. [Don Muhammad] Dr. Wilson inherited, not Noah's ark, he inherited the Titanic. And if he's been able to stop the sinking, that alone warrants him having his contract renewed. This man is not God. He's not even a prophet, but he has shown a remarkable ability to begin to turn around a sinking ship.

[Pedro Posado] We truly do not care whether it be Mr. Wilson or another superintendent, but someone has to step forward and prove to the Hispanic community that we matter and our concerns are valid. I would like to suggest that we stop playing Monopoly, or else, through the combined effort of our communities, we will not let you pass Go and collect your individual salaries. [Committee member] Thank you, Pedro. [Reporter] The school committee made its decision in executive session, an hour and a half of secret discussion and then the result, just like the newspapers reported this morning, a compromise. [Thomas O'Reilly] The School Committee has voted by a majority vote to offer the superintendent a two-year contract with a number of provisions in it relating to both ongoing performance relationships and the goal of trying to ensure that there is improved and better communication. The committee has voted this way by a 7-6 vote. [Robert Cappucci] The vote was seven to six and there are six members that still feel that Dr. Wilson should not be the superintendent of the Boston public school systems. We are going to do everything in

our power to see that to it that we get a new... [Reporter] Laval Wilson didn't get the three or four years he wanted, just two, with only the first year guaranteed, the second dependent on good performance reviews, but he accepted the offer with stoic good cheer. [Wilson] Well you have to remember that having six years in Boston is the longest tenure of any superintendent for a long long time. [Reporter] If this is a victory for Laval Wilson, it is a hollow one, a two-year contract with constant performance reviews and no perks. It does give him a second chance to prove himself, but he'll have to do it on a very short leash. For the Ten O'Clock News, I'm Christy George.