Ray Mariano: Suggestions for new Worcester School Committee members
With only a couple of new members recently elected to the City Council, I don’t think the dynamics on the council will change all that much. However, with five new members elected, the School Committee is another story entirely.
It’s no secret that I haven’t been very pleased with the actions of the School Committee. So I thought that I might offer some suggestions to the newest members in the hope that they might chart a different path.
Listen to your teachers
If you want to know what’s working and not working in Worcester’s schools, take the time to go into the buildings and see for yourself. Go to a high school or middle school and teach a class or perform cafeteria duty, have lunch with students and walk the corridors between classes. Reading a report from the superintendent, who will most likely paint a rosy picture, isn’t enough. Go and see for yourself.
Equally as important, take the time to talk to teachers privately about what they need to succeed in the classroom. Many of them have told me that they are afraid to speak up for fear of some sort of retaliation. So, ask them individually or in small groups about what you can do to support their efforts. When you do, bring a large notepad.
Like many communities, Worcester is struggling to recruit and keep teachers. Many veteran teachers are leaving the system early while others can’t wait to retire. Task the superintendent with developing a formal teacher retention program and then use the results as part of her annual evaluation. Maybe it will force the superintendent to take the time to pay attention to them.
In addition to the current program for paraprofessionals who possess a bachelor’s degree, also consider a tuition reimbursement program that incentivizes paraprofessionals without a degree to continue their education and become full-fledged teachers. This should also help you recruit more paraprofessionals.
School safety and accountability
More than any other issue, teachers talk to me about their concerns for safety at school. I’ve written previously about assaults of teachers happening in school. As I was writing this column, a teacher informed me that a student challenged a teacher to fight, threatening to kill him just because the teacher told the student to move along in the corridor.
Every teacher that I spoke to said that they want there to be consequences for threats and violent behavior. They complain that students can get away with almost anything without facing serious consequences. One teacher said that things in her high school have gotten so bad that one morning before school, she just sat in the parking lot and cried.
I would also suggest that you look at bringing school safety officers back into the buildings. Teachers shouldn’t be pulled to the ground by their hair trying to break up a fight as happened recently. These are specially trained officers who engage with students and attempt to develop positive relationships. You should know that when officers were in the buildings previously the number of student arrests actually went down. School safety officers not only keep teachers and staff safe, they also keep students safe.
Recently, Worcester received a regional alert from the FBI about possible intruders. If something like that happened, ask yourself this: Do you want your police officer inside the building or somewhere else?
As important as any other safety measure, you should reinstate after school/community school programs. Open up the buildings after school and give young people a productive place to go. In the past, these programs had a very positive impact on the schools. However as budgets tightened they were eliminated. With the state providing millions in additional funding annually, it’s time to reinstate these programs.
I’ve received numerous complaints from teachers who say that students aren’t being held accountable academically. When a student is trying their best, the school should bend over backwards to help. Second, third, even fourth chances are fine with me. But when a student puts their head down on their desk, refuses to do homework and earns grades well below the failing mark, they should get what they earned.
And please get rid of the foolish idea of allowing students to use their cellphones in school and then enforce the existing rules. Students have enough distractions. Say no to cellphones and then insist that the rules are enforced.
One more thing
The new superintendent went on a spending spree after she was appointed, putting in so many new administrators that the system has been looking around for more office space. Do we really need an administrative director of positive youth development, a director of family and community engagement and an early childhood coordinator of child find and teaching and learning?
Ask someone to explain why we need a contract coordinator and a procurement coordinator.
The system used to have just one, but we now have an assistant superintendent and a deputy superintendent. It appears that we also have two additional quadrant managers who are now called executive directors.
Review the new administrative positions and then get rid of those that aren’t needed. Then put some of the $1 million-$2 million that they cost toward funding after-school programs.
The problems in the WPS aren’t new and they don’t fall exclusively on the shoulders of the current School Committee or superintendent. These problems have been going on for years. But recent decisions have made things even worse. You have a big job ahead of you. I wish you well with it.
Email Raymond V. Mariano at rmariano.telegram@gmail.com. He served four terms as mayor of Worcester and previously served on the City Council and School Committee. He grew up in Great Brook Valley and holds degrees from Worcester State College and Clark University. He was most recently executive director of the Worcester Housing Authority. His column appears weekly in the Sunday Telegram. His endorsements do not necessarily reflect the position of the Telegram & Gazette.
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