BOSTON – Stores in Boston’s Charlestown say they are losing business after construction work began on Main Street. The shops are barely visible behind the equipment and orange cones.

Boston Water and Sewer crews are doing much-needed maintenance work on the pipes around the neighborhood. However, the caution tape, noise, and construction equipment are impacting small businesses in the area.

“That’s the first customer I had today in two hours, and I probably won’t get another one, I hate to say it, all day,” Betty, a consignment store employee told WBZ-TV.

“Put some of us out of business”

It’s slow because the shop’s front door is a construction zone, with crews climbing in and out of a giant hole in the roadway.

“It’s not even blasting right now. You gotta hear the noise. They blast all day long,” the employee said.

“It’s going to put some of us out of business,” Amanda Mitchell added.

Mitchell owns two businesses in Charlestown – both impacted by the construction.

“No one said anything that there would be construction at all,” she said outside her boutique, Place and Gather. She showed up to work, surprised to see a giant hole at her front door.

“When you come in the morning and there are giant holes and the sidewalk is closed from all the way down there to all the way around the corner,” Mitchell explained. “Customers, Freedom Trail walkers don’t know how to physically get down over here.”

Boston says they notify residents two weeks before

The Boston Water and Sewer Commission said they notify businesses and residents by mail two weeks before construction begins. Parking notices go up two days before the work starts.

“The Boston Water and Sewer Commission (BWSC) sends notices to residents and businesses who are affected by replacement or rehabilitation of our infrastructure (water, sewer, and drainage systems) two weeks prior to commencement of the work. In addition to the customer notifications mailed to residents and businesses prior to the commencement of work, the contractor also posts No Parking Notices on vehicles within the active work zone 48 hours in advance. BWSC apologizes if a business or a resident did not receive a notice of the construction work.” said BWSC Spokesperson Tom Bagley.

“I got zero heads up here,” Mitchell said. “This began last August.”

Mitchell explained that she understands the work is necessary. She just wants a warning before she’s greeted by a construction zone outside of her quaint boutique.

“Just communication. We want this work to happen, we just want a timeline.”

Massachusetts native Mindy Kaling took her opportunity as host of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Wednesday night to come to the defense of Boston fans.

Speaking on stage at the United Center in Chicago, the renowned actress decided to combat the hate bestowed upon the state – most notably its fans – by pointing out some of Boston’s favorite things. 

“Guys, I couldn’t leave here without giving a shout-out to the amazing delegation from my home state, Massachusetts. I love you, Massachusetts. Everyone is always hating on us, but they just don’t get it,” she said.

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“Go Sox! Go Jayson Tatum!” 

Jayson Tatum of the Celtics walks onto the field before a game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Red Sox at Fenway Park on June 24, 2024, in Boston. (Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)

Kaling also made reference to the state’s fascination with Dunkin Donuts coffee, and also Ben Affleck’s high-profile split from estranged wife Jennifer Lopez. 

“Ben Affleck, hang in there!”

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Tatum and the Celtics won the franchise’s 18th NBA championship this year after defeating the Dallas Mavericks in five games. Boston now has the most NBA titles out of any franchise in league history. 

In an interview with Fox News Digital in January, Tatum praised Boston fans despite the criticism they have faced over the years. 

“I’ve been very fortunate, seven years now, to be in Boston and they truly do have the best fans in the league,” he said. “They support us night in and night out. Just want to repay them with good basketball. They give us so much and energy at every game. You don’t want to let them down in that sense.”

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Boston fans have been criticized by several NBA players over the last few seasons. In 2023, Jaylen Brown said part of the fan base was “extremely toxic.” Former Celtics guard Kyrie Irving said many insults were hurled his way during a playoff game in 2022. LeBron James even said Boston fans were “racist as f—.”

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown reacts after a play against the Dallas Mavericks during the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden. (Peter Casey-USA Today Sports)

“They’re gonna say whatever the f— they want to say,” James said in 2022. 

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With coordination across multiple mayoral and school administrations, Boston After School and Beyond nurtured and grew what is now known as the “Fifth Quarter,” solving all sides of the summer program problem. It bundles funding from federal, state, city, and private philanthropic sources. Through research and data agreements, it ensures programs with the city’s seal of approval meet field standards and goals. And it attempts to end the annual parent scramble to find available slots by operating a user-friendly website of programs searchable by age, type, and cost (many are free).

How — and why — did the city rapidly create a national model for summer school?

First, the vast majority of children in Boston have caregivers who all have jobs. Summer programming is not a nice-to-have; it is a necessity for working families. Busy kids mean more parents can remain in the workforce, supporting their families and contributing to the local economy.

Summer enrichment provides more than just child care. Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book “Outliers” popularized a term educators long had intuited: “summer slide,” the decline of academic skills while children were on summer break. With a 1980s Baltimore study as the touchstone, the lagging achievement of low-income students, students of color, and other historically marginalized students was pinned on missing out on the academic enrichment, camps, or travel during the summer that their higher-income peers benefit from. A recent Gallup survey revealed that higher-income families are twice as likely to enroll their children in summer planning than lower-income families. Closing the summer access gap is a potential path to closing achievement and opportunity gaps.

I have seen this firsthand. In my 15 years as a public school teacher and principal, I ran summer school six times. Although I would describe the initial attitude of the children as one of resignation at best, with those same children I witnessed exceptional academic and social growth. More often than not, I saw that carry into the following school year.

There have been competing studies and data on the consistency and scale of summer learning loss, but the theoretical quickly gave way to the practical needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic. To address children’s stalled academic progress, which disproportionately impacted lower-income students, school districts around the country leveraged federal recovery dollars to add learning time in the summers of 2021, 2022, and 2023. Some school districts made their academic year longer. Many, like Boston, invested millions to expand summer programs with an additional academic focus.

Does it work? Yes. A RAND-administered random control trial, the gold standard in social science, showed that students who regularly attended summer programs outperformed their peers academically.

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The same research indicated those students made greater progress in social and emotional skills.

American schooling is inherently conservative, largely the same in its form, delivery, and calendar for nearly a century. Change is rare, even when something has a clear track record of working. To meet the needs of the families of today and achieve goals of equity, it is reasonable to ask whether summer learning should continue to be an appendage.

Why not incorporate it, and, for all who want or need it, just make “summer school” part of “school?”

Will Austin is founder and CEO of Boston Schools Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to high-quality education in the city.