An open letter to the School Committee

To the Members of the School Committee:

The city budget passed last week with extra money for education.

Unfortunately, the administrative proposal for this funding is nothing less than mismanagement.

The memo from the deputy superintendent outlining the proposed use of these funds is horrifying in how out of touch it is.

I've spent the spring at meetings at which parents, teachers, students, and community members have talked about schools. They've spoken of class sizes. They've talked about buildings in disrepair. The lack of nurses, the closed libraries, the old books, the significant lack of technology, the meager supplies...all of these have come up over and over again. These are very basic needs that Worcester needs to fill. These lacks and critical needs are so clear and so stark that it never occurred to school supporters that the Administration, when faced with additional resources, would fail to address any of them.

So why is it that the school administration wants to spend the money we fought so hard for on programs that have been mentioned by no one? Programs, further, that will make a positive impression on an extremely limited number of students?

This proposal does nothing less than betray those who have fought so long and so hard. This furthers the argument of those who feel that the school administration squanders funds.

I have no doubt that the programs on health and engineering are good ones. Advanced Placement classes are a worthy thing. Programs on increasing college attendance are a wonderful idea. They are also, no less clearly, extras. We are not in the position to afford extras at this point. We have buildings that are literally crumbling around children. Thousands of children spent most of the day in schools without a nurse. All elementary school libraries are run by volunteers, if they are open at all. We are years behind on books and decades behind on technology.

So why is it, one wonders, that the money is being recommended for these extra programs? Would revitalizing these be someone's resume fodder? Are these someone's pet projects?

I did not spend the spring writing letters and blog entries, going to meetings, and losing sleep for pet projects and shiny resume entries. I spent my time this way so that the children of this city would be safer, better supplied, and better educated.

Not just my children.

Not just the children in fancy programs.

All the children in the Worcester Public Schools

You have not been elected to move forward the agenda of the Worcester City Council, the deputy superintendent, the superintendent, or anyone else. You've been elected to set the priorities for the Worcester Public Schools. I would hope that your agenda is a quality education in a safe environment for all children.

We aren't there yet.

The money that the City Council approved last week can be a step in that direction, or it can be frittered away without forwarding that larger goal. It can be spent to do something that needs to be done, or spent doing something that would look awfully good in the paper. You can honor those who have seen the needs and fought alongside you for funding, or you can ignore them and jeopardize their future support.

My hope is that you'll remember all of the 24,000 students that depend on you. They won't all be at Thursday's meeting. But I, and plenty of others who spent our spring fighting for increased funding, will. We'll be watching carefully to see how you spend that money.

Don't disappoint us.