Public budget hearing

I'm not going to take notes on the presentation (which is online here; well, more or less), because you've seen them before, but I will take notes on public comment. I should also note that Steve Foskett from the T&G is here and is live-tweeting the meeting.
posting as we go...and without names unless I have them...send them later if you've got them, please
And I'm personally doing a shout-out to Councilor Economou, D1, who is here tonight. Well done, sir.


Mitch Lipka : cutting classroom teachers should be an absolute last resort
"what a slap in the face to families like ours" that are active supporters of schools and civic organizations
"straw that breaks the back" of parents trying to make it work
"I'm prepared to do what it  is I need to do to make sure my children have a quality education"
"I know you can find the money to reinstate three positions...but they aren't positions; they're teachers of our children"
"kind of kids you should encourage, not discourage"
"Give us our teacher back, give them all back"

Rick Marcello (sp?): "easily paid over $100,000 in property taxes"
previous two children attended public schools
"that system has disintegrated...failing my youngest child"
comment on bathroom, heating, lack of rooms (including art)
"that's not education; that's organized chaos" (regarding 29 students in a classroom)
"should be proposing a budget that rivals" top systems
resent having to consider moving or sending them elsewhere
notes that most systems spend more than Worcester
(Foley agrees that minimum is just that, a minimum level...agrees that foundation budget is not enough)

Steven Reynolds: comments that budget meeting should not start at 4
"we as parents can only give things...we can't throw $20 in an envelope to hire a teacher"
"I'd urge you to add more teachers"
"extremely sympathetic to the teachers...I go nuts with one kid in the car"
"my only concern is that my child not be one of 28 in the classroom learning math"
"continue looking to cut more so you can add teachers"
"I don't want to wait until we are Springfield or Lawrence or Lowell"
"happy to continue to support things that we have"

Alex Belslie (?): checks that the class that's over 28 puts it in the 4%
"we have a budget deficit; we cut teachers"
"it's all Greek to me..."
"my question is every school has an instructional coach position?"
funded out of Title II, which cannot be used to fund classroom teachers
advocates eliminating school choice for Flagg (note that school choice brings in funds from other districts)

Sean Murray: MCAS scores of last year
24% of children failed the MCAS..."as a city, we really have to consider what message we're sending to folks"
"they're going to think twice about staying here or moving here"
"they're frustrated...already we've seen people..say 'you know what, Flagg isn't for me'...and these are people that we as a city can't afford to lose"
"there's a sentiment that Flagg can take it...they'll be okay"
there's a sentiment: "if you're doing okay, that's good enough, and it's not"

Ken Robeaux (?): preschooler at West Tatnuck and one at Flagg
wife is a schoolteacher
had our daughter accepted to go to Northborough...can't expect them to be superheroes every day
"I have to be the advocate for my child"
"I have to feel comfortable knowing that my son or daughter can get the best education they can get...I know that they can, but not with these class sizes"
"...they're just ridiculous..."

Jonathan Choi:  parent of children who had to move out of the Worcester Public Schools last year
a list of issues that Boone thought were priorities from January presentation; compared to tonight
two items dropped from last one: librarians ($2.3 m) and gifted & talented programs ($2.1m)
"would make a transformational difference in Worcester, rather than just trying to hold steady"
"really move beyond that...to make a Worcester education a superior education"
librarians: libraries being open, too
Libraries where kids can't take books from the library, or take them out of the school, or take them home.
"from kindergarten to grade six, kids can go without ever having taken a library book out"
teachers try to make up the difference with money out of pocket
not sending books home because they didn't come back
Choi started comparing MCAS scores for schools that had libraries that were open vs those that were closed
points out that's 1%
gifted and talented programs: urges that this be directed toward the high school level
(he's actually the second person this week to urge this)
true differentiation
"an advanced math and science classes"
no expectation in teaching beyond the MCAS
"what if you had a teacher that could teach advanced math and science across grade levels?"
Foley: responds that this was first priorities rather than eliminating difference
Choi comments that it's a $10 m difference "for a small increase in expenditure, you can difference in program"

Councilor Tony Economou: father of two kids in Worcester schools
we've funded school supplies out of pocket
"the staff, the teachers do a phenomenal job"
"the biggest issue has always been the teacher/pupil ratio"

John Monfredo:
asks Allen if we've funded as required; no, last two years
percent we are in funding? Allen estimates bottom 1%
statewide average is over 14%, Monfredo says
"we don't have an argument" with funding (School Committee)
$40 per pupil for suburbia "I have a problem with that; you should have a problem with that"
should talk to our state senators
"it starts with prevention"


Larissa Murphy: two children in Flagg, teacher in Leominster
average class size is 21.8
classes at Flagg that fall within that size
"why is that position coming from Flagg?"
Allen comments that there are positions restored that have not been assigned yet; 11 still be reassigned
(which means that at this point we don't really know where those three cuts would be)
Foley: best allocation of resources they can, district-wide


Mark Cohen:
lucky that we have so many involved parents...library run by volunteers
(all the elementary libraries in the system are run by volunteers)
Last place to cut is the classroom
"we need to support them now"


Melissa ...sorry I missed that:
is the plan to split the class to make the numbers down?
Allen: no, not the plan. 85% of the budget is determined

...and I entirely missed that name...sorry...
complains that Boone isn't here and doesn't answer phone calls and doesn't answer emails
note that it's teacher appreciation week
"basic instability caused by these cuts"
kids know the difference
child: "I don't think we should have budget cuts. That's mean."
another one: "I expect you to represent us...most important thing for us is to have a classroom teacher"

Kim Schoen:
number of students at Goddard Scholars program?
Allen/Mulqueen: about 150 students in grades 6-8
she estimates that 5000 students are going to be impacted by cut of elementary teachers
asserts that an ideal classroom is 18-22 students
"children, whether they are on the East side or the West side, deserve a class size that is optimal for teaching"

Rob Cohane:
co-chair of CPPAC with two boys at Worcester Arts Magnet
a student to teacher ratio is critical number to look at
"we do need to focus on the city's commitment to education"
"we need to make sure the city of Worcester is committed to education"
"how can we hold the School Committee responsible...when the city isn't living up to its responsibility?"
"the future of education is absolutely dependent on education"
encourages others to speak not just here, but to the council and the state
confirms that the city's funding is just meeting minimum
"it's a minimum system, isn't even an average system, and we can't do that if the city won't support that"