Council on School Committee election

asking for a report on procedures...request for a manual on recounts...some specifics requested on where votes were lost.
Auditor's report here.

2012-13 Standing Committee Assignments: Worcester School Committee

The Standing Committee assignments by Mayor-elect Petty are as follows:

ACCOUNTABILITY AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Dianna Biancheria, Chairman
Tracy Novick, Vice-Chairman
Brian O’Connell

FINANCE AND OPERATIONS
Jack Foley, Chairman
Donna Colorio, Vice-Chairman
Tracy Novick

GOVERNANCE AND EMPLOYEE ISSUES
John Monfredo, Chairman
Donna Colorio, Vice-Chairman
Jack Foley

TEACHING, LEARNING AND STUDENT SUPPORTS
Brian O’Connell, Chairman
John Monfredo, Vice-Chairman
Dianna Biancheria

City of Worcester Inauguration

All are invited to attend the Inaugural Exercises of the City of Worcester

Monday, January 2, 2012

3:00 pm 

North High School Auditorium 

140 Harrington Way, Worcester

We have a new member!

Congratulations to Donna Colorio, who will take the sixth seat on the Worcester School Committee.

Recount day! UPDATED

I've got a huge backlog of things to catch up on....to come!

It is recount day for the Worcester School Committee. Note that every city ballot will be counted for all School Committee candidates.
You can watch it live here.

7:30 UPDATE: And if you're awaiting results, I'm told they are currently adding totals, and it could be awhile yet.

Auditors

As much as one hates to correct the editorial board when they're praising your work...
Several times this campaign season, the notion of an independent audit of the Worcester Public Schools finances has come up; most recently, it was endorsed by the Worcester Telegram and Gazette in their editorial regarding the School Committee race:

An independent audit of the school budget has the potential to break that impasse, giving school and municipal officials a single set of facts upon which to base future discussions and establish spending priorities.

 Would that it were true; if it were, this would have already happened.

The Worcester Public Schools are independently audited every year. In fact, it happens twice: once by a group looking just into school finance application of "agreed-upon procedures" (see my notes from that here) and once by the independent auditor that is brought in by the city annually (notes from that here). This was discussed not only by the School Committee, but also by the City Council.
You can find links to the reports here discussed off of this agenda.

This all costs the Worcester Public Schools more than two teachers' salaries.
This is also in addition to all WPS finances being under the eagle eye of the city's own independent (he is appointed by the City Council and explicitly does not report to the City Manager) auditor, which is part of what the city contribution is to the Worcester Public Schools.
Let's keep those suggestions on improving transparency and public accountability coming; let's just try to make them new ones, eh?

A few notes from Wednesday's forum

One can hardly pretend to be unbiased on such things, and you can get a holistic (if abbreviated) view of answers in the article by Jackie Reis.
The format was a one minute opening statement for each candidate, and a one minute closing statement for each candidate. In between, 15 questions were asked, each answered by two candidates. The questions (paraphrased from my notes) were as follows:

• Worcester is in the fifth percentile statewide when it comes to municipal contribution over the required contribution to the schools' foundation budget. Please comment. (This to Salmonsen & Biancheria)
• Massachusetts has now adopted the Common Core. Thoughts? (to Colorio & O'Connell)
• The new teacher evaluation system calls for incorporating "student outcomes." What are your thoughts? (to Monfredo & Mullaney)
• What would be your priorities for Worcester Public Schools facilities for the next five years? (to Trobaugh & Novick)
• What technology needs do you see for the Worcester Public Schools over the next five years? (to Foley & Ramirez)
• No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, Ed Reform II...how do you see the balance of all of these with local control? (to Mullaney & Trobaugh)
• Looking, for example, at 3rd grade ELA and 7th grade math scores, what would you say is the community part in supporting our students? (to O'Connell & Colorio)
• Some parents have expressed concern with disciplinary policies and how they are implemented. Please comment. (to Monfredo & Biancheria)
• Given the great varities of people in Worcester, what is your plan to reach out to constituencies and neighborhoods? (to Novick & Ramirez)
• What affect would you say the changing demographics of the city have had on the policy, culture, and teaching and learning in the Worcester Public Schools? (to Foley & Salmonsen)
• What would you say are the three most pressing issues to the Worcester Public Schools? (to Colorio & Foley)
• What, in the Worcester Public Schools, are you most proud of? (to Biancheria & Ramirez)
• From your own educational experiences, what would you like students to have, and what would you like students to avoid? (to O'Connell & Salmonsen)
• Some parents have been concerned about all students having access to a demanding curriculum, particularly as it pertains to sorting of levels in middle schools. Please comment. (to Monfredo & Novick)
• What balance do you strike between management and School Committee? (to Mullaney & Trobaugh)

Council

I'm at City Council tonight. The liveblog is in the trustworthy hands of Worcester Magazine, but if there's anything school-related (say, on grants), I'll post.
UPDATE: and, without stealing a scoop from anyone, I just met a brand new School Committee candidate!

(Completely off-topic: just left a PACKED gathering of Worcester bloggers at Nu Cafe)