Five Things You Need to Know Today, March 2

Today is Wednesday, March 2. Here are five things you need to know:

1. Hold on to your hats! It's going to be a windy morning, with gusts reaching 22 mph. Forecasts are calling for temps in the high 30s and partly cloudy skies.

2. The Boston School Committee will hold its first of four public budget hearings tonight to discuss a The meeting is at 5 p.m. at English High School, 144 McBride St., Jamaica Plain. The proposed FY12 budget closed a $63 million gap, caused mostly by the rising cost of health care and pay raises for members of collective bargaining units. The School Committee is scheduled to vote on the final budget on March 23.

3. In other education news, a coalition of lawyers and educators is suing the Boston Public Schools, saying the city's school closure plan discriminates against black and Latino students. The Boston Bar Association's lawyers' committee for civil rights under law and the Black Educators' Alliance of Massachusetts announced Monday that they have filed their complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.

4. Boston City Councilors John Connolly and Ayanna Pressley are offering a resolution at today's City Council meeting that Celtics great and civil rights leader Bill Russell be honored with a statue in Boston. Russell was honored by President Barack Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor for an American civilian. Obama had suggested a statue be placed in Boston.

5. Trinity Church is stepping up to help save some Boston Public Schools. The church's Trinity Boston Foundation, received a $20,000 grant to work with students’ families and neighborhood residents to create a community that cares about strengthening its schools. They’ll also use the six-month planning grant, from the Episcopal City Mission, to see if other faith-based organizations are interesting in partnering. It sounds promising, and worked at the Dearborn Middle School in Roxbury. Read more .

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