Ray Mariano: Worcester school officials live in merry old Land of Oz

Ask the superintendent or members of the School Committee how Worcester schools are doing and you’ll typically get a very positive response. They admit that there are areas where things can improve but overall it’s nothing but rainbows and sunshine.

However, if you ask teachers the same question, you often get a very different response. I have spoken to more than a dozen teachers this school year and they tell me that the problems from previous years continue unabated. In fact, in their view, things are getting worse.

School safety

Of course everything is all rainbows and sunshine in the merry old Land of Oz. They’ve kicked trained police officers out of the building and put unarmed security guards at the front door to make sure that mom and dad sign in when they have a meeting in the building. We also have school culture and climate assistants who don’t provide any security but “promote a positive school culture through interactions with students and staff.” Just their title alone helps you envision beautiful rainbows.

But everyone doesn’t live in Oz. When you pull back the curtain, things are very different. Just ask the high school teacher who had a student stomp on her foot so hard that he broke several of her toes. She’s home recovering from her injuries. Or you could ask the teacher who was assaulted while on duty in the girl’s bathroom. Nothing happened to the student but the teacher wants out of the building.

Then there’s the recent incident where a high school student, who I’m told was expelled from a charter school, threatened an elderly teacher. After a call for help, it took 30 minutes for any administrator to show up. The teacher went out on sick leave because of the stress.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the student they found with drugs and bullets in his backpack. These incidents are just the tip of the iceberg.

Cellphones and no homework

The School Committee wants to adopt a policy that reduces the amount of homework that students are required to do by including some number of “no homework days.” That should do wonders for the system’s test scores. But we don’t talk about that in Oz.

The School Committee also wants to let students use their cellphones during the day. That makes sense because in Oz students listen carefully. They put their phones away when they are not being used as an educational tool. One teacher told me that she’s caught students trying to cheat on exams with their phones. She must be mistaken. In Oz, students don’t text each other, surf the internet, take selfies or use their phones for anything other than legitimate, approved educational purposes during the school day.

And what do those poor slobs in the Northbridge school system think they will accomplish by using locked pouches to keep students off of their cellphones? Their superintendent thinks this practice will make schools safer and improve academic performance. She needs to come to Worcester and see how things work. Nothing but rainbows and sunshine in Worcester.

A plan to improve school policy

So who’s right? Do our students need less homework? Should they be allowed to use their cellphones in school? Are the schools safe? Well, you could ask the school department but, as I said, they see mostly rainbows and sunshine.

Here’s an idea: School Committee members and top administrators need to spend time, on a regular basis, in the classrooms where their policies are administered. Why not get a firsthand look at what our teachers see every day?

When I was on the School Committee, I sat in the back of dozens of classrooms, ate lunch in school cafeterias and walked corridors with students between classes. I also took the time to meet with hundreds of teachers in small groups. I even participated as a student in a couple of classes at the former Boys' Trade.

All of these experiences changed the way I looked at things. There were times when I tossed out a proposal I had intended to introduce after seeing firsthand how it might work out.

I think the members of the School Committee are making some terrible decisions. But, that’s just my opinion. What I’m suggesting here is that the people leading our school system go and see it for themselves.

Every member of the School Committee should spend a full week teaching a Level 1 class at least twice a year. Go in and see what our teachers are up against and see how your policies are impacting the children you think you are helping. If you think they should be allowed to use cellphones in the classroom, try it and see for yourself.

If you think the present safety measures are adequate, spend time in the cafeteria or run down to a call when a teacher is being assaulted or two students are fighting. Go ahead and step in there and break up the fight while you wait for 30 minutes for someone to show up to help.

As for the platoon of new administrators that the superintendent has hired, they should be required to spend a full day every week in one of our schools: teach a class, perform cafeteria duty, and handle discipline complaints about students from teachers.

It’s nice to live in the magical Land of Oz. But our teachers and students live in the real world. So pull back the curtain, show up and see what it’s like.

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.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Ray Mariano on Worcester School Committee members in Land of Oz