Councilors on the WPS budget

O'Brien: where we've come to where we need to go
"closed eight schools, laid off teachers"
federal stimulus aid, continued support from the state
"equally been a challenging time for the city side"
"beginning to stabilize, due to good decisions being made"; cites council, committee, city manager, superintendent, municipal unions
"where do we invest going forward"
"three critical areas...strong economy...public safety...and you need to have great schools"
"we voted with our feet" (well, some of them...) and sent their kids to Worcester Public Schools

"I would say that we need to make two kinds of investments...first around buildings and technology...(need a plan there)...and modest plan to move over the next few years in the academic programs"
he met with Zidelis "and couldn't wring any more money out of those pockets"
RECOMMENDING: and he asks here how long they have until they have to pass the budget...City Manager asks what the extension of the budget process would require
understanding that we'd know from MSBA what they're will to fund in early June
The City manager notes that those numbers would be capital...O'Brien "we're going to need to come up with a number...what is it going to take to make that investment"
Hopes that some discussion for any other opportunities in the budget that would allow us to make a modest additional investment in the operational lines
"a way to fund at least one or two or some of these with resources put forward"
Mayor notes that June 4 is last budget date scheduled

Economou:
agrees with Monfredo...hates talking us and them
would be pleased to talk about moving forward
"going to ask City Manager and Superintendent to go back, sharpen their pencils, and come up with $500,000 to reduce class size"

Rushton:
public school graduate, two kids at Tatnuck, son of two Worcester Public School teachers
"gotta pull it back a step..this document is our document...the City Council doesn't own the document..."
"this is what I'll tell my child...do you want to say anything to the Superintendent?...'I want her to fix the schools up'"
"take from one side to give to another...adult conversation among us all"
asks for cost centers that have been reduced

Petty:
funding for next year and the year after
projection on grant money declining
3% reduction in Title III; 15% in Title IIA; 1.5% in IDEA

Allen notes that this is a million dollars but that those are position-heavy; we need a million just to stay current with funding
Petty: want to do the right thing for the school system and the whole city
June 6: MSBA decision on Nelson Place (and accelerated repair)
"for the first time maybe the budget is stabilizing"
"makes tougher decisions for City Manager and Superintendent" in cutting other things
"Nelson Place is going to come out of our budget"

Lukes:
"both sides are right"
"we've all had some experience with the school department or school committee"
"we had to live through Proposition 2 1/2" when she was on the committee
we should note that at that time, the school department set their budget and it was simply funded. Period.
"school reform...that's how we got testing as part of the school reform...still arguing about the reforms and the testing, and we're still arguing about money"
comments that there are specific services not delineated (which is not true, BTW; the city claims it as "in kind"...it counts as NSS)
"capital costs cannot be used to fund operations"
sorry, there was some funny math there that I didn't follow which somehow came up with 22%
motion to cut $500,000 out of the administrative account; "maybe we ought to take a closer look at some of those accounts" 
"made sure that we solved it on the school side first before we went before the council..I'd be interested in how carefully that budget is screened"
addresses the superintendent: "Do you feel that you can meet all the state mandates and meet your professional goals for the school system with this budget?"
Boone: "The short answer is no."
notes that she did not ask for additional funds for two years previously
"at least $15 million eliminated in this budget"
"we are as lean and mean as we can possibly be particularly in teaching, learning, and student supports"
"we have single people doing most jobs"
"It will be difficult for us to go back and find additional funds"
notes that it was in Lukes' mayorality that we signed a DoJ settlement adjustment, and we're still working towards compliance
"the rubber has met the road"
"it will be tough if we don't get new money"
Lukes: "I will not be surprised if the City Council cannot find more money...have not heard anyone on our side make any cuts"
Boone "would fall short of my responsibility if I did not articulate what our needs are"

Rivera:
wanted to talk about class sizes
nurses in schools help reduce absentee and dismissal: particularly in the schools that are underperforming; and that's not to talk about the number of students that have Epi-pens
increase in buildings and technology
You go to University Park "it's quaint and all, but Lord have mercy, we sure could use an upgrade"
recommends hiring local teachers
"look at some long-term plan"

 Palmieri:
"what I don't quite get here, simply put: Council has to have a fundamental attitude to find a way to help the schools more than we have in the past"
"equally unconscionable that we have classrooms of 26, 27, 28, and more than that...more than unfair, and we need to change it..we can't wait. We can't wait another week, another month, or even another day...classroom sizes must be smaller; they just have to be"
met with Allen regarding class sizes (with Councilor Eddy)
"what would that mean for economic development in the city of Worcester..."
"we have to look at issues like that"
"unabashed supporter...do we what we can to have an outstanding school system"
"We're just not doing enough, and we need to do more"
"but also the state legislature needs to do more...our phones aren't the only ones that should ring...they do hold the purse strings of much of what takes place here"
"lagging behind doing what we should for our school system"
"a drop in the bucket at this point, and we have to want to do it"
"need more players at the table...superintendent can't do it alone; the city manager can't do it alone"
 "how can we not have a school nurse in every school...needs to happen, just needs to happen"

Toomey:
remembering making similar arguments
"encouraged about from my colleagues tonight...continued dialogue to see what can be done...not something that can done like this...conversations with the state delegation...federal side"
"general consensus from my colleagues"
volunteering for committee
"as a city who cares about it's future, it's children...we do have to look towards the future"
asking for a long-term plan
"I know that together we can come up with a plan"
"Great promise to people working together in the future"

Eddy:
"being supportive of public education is about who your father was...it's about understanding where our neighborhoods are.."
"that's the public policy question that this Council has before it"
"everybody likes to be popular"
"...number one priority was going to be police"
...raw dollar increase? Zidelis cites $11.4m increase "and it's a gross increase, including state funding"
of which $2.8 million comes from the city
"it's a good goal to have under 25 in a class"
should be a year long dialogue, "it's not by getting 200 or 300 signatures in the last two weeks of May...this is the first I've seen of this $5 million"
(which means he hasn't paid attention to previous updates, alas)

Germain:
deja vu all over again
"independent audit of the school department"
"I'm not trying to spot someone...so this sort of discussion...doesn't happen again"
"lack of trust among the two bodies"
"create a new baseline"
"being appropriated properly and spent properly"
"I'm not a mathematically genius...we should hire someone that can"
"do want to come up with some resolution before next week"
"part of that dialogue is to create trust"
"need an independent authority to come in tell us"
Boone speaks of welcoming that: "our house is in order"

O'Brien:
comments that his wife just sent him a message reminding him that he has to plug Jacob Hiatt
reports for next week:
capital budget recommendation from the City Manager: where did it go the past three years (for schools)?
"how do we get everyone in the same room to figure out what goes in and what comes out?"
Medicare, grants...where those balances are?
what goes out from the school to the city side and what goes from the city to the school side: report

Petty: needs are great and we hear you loud and clear