US Department of Ed investigating NY state funding

I haven't seen this before: 

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights will be investigating complaints brought forth by two New York school districts that say the state’s funding structure for public schools discriminates against districts with high concentrations of people of color, students whose first language is not English, and students with disabilities.

According to a press release from the Schenectady City School District, this will be the first time the OCR considers a complaint of this kind from a school district.

It would seem that this is also going to establish something of a precedent, both in terms of federal oversight and in terms of potential national impact.

Speaking of the Common Core

The Research Bureau has an event Monday regarding the Common Core:

Digging into the Common Core: Education Standards & Testing in Massachusetts 
 In 2010, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts adopted the Common Core State Standards developed by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers. Since that time, the standards have been captured within the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, incorporated into local school curricula, and measured by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exams. Are Massachusetts students thriving or struggling under the new system? Where do we go from here? 
 Join the Worcester Regional Research Bureau and its panel of experts to discuss the status of educational standards and testing in the Commonwealth.

 __________________________________ 

 Monday, December 8th, 2014 

 3:45PM - 5:00PM 

 Worcester Technical High School 

One Skyline Drive, Worcester 

__________________________________ 

 Panel: 
Richard Bisk, Ph.D., Professor of Mathematics, Worcester State University 
Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D., Commissioner of Elementary & Secondary Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts 
Phyllis Goldstein, English Language Arts Liaison, Worcester Public Schools 

Moderator: Melinda J. Boone, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Worcester Public Schools

And PS: they always take questions at the end! 

Funding the Worcester Public Schools: WEC and Research Bureau presentation

I'm at Mass College of Pharmacy for the second presentation on funding the schools. Live blogging as we go

FY15 finalized tonight

The City Council tonight finalized the FY15 budget ('though due to a scriverner's error, they did not set the municipal tax rate). The big thing that this does on the Worcester Public Schools side is point out the big change in the charter school reimbursement: nearly a million dollars.
You might remember that this is among the reasons why the state says we should run a budget over foundation. 
Now, the city can--and in past years, has--just pull this out of the WPS budget. This year (as has happened at least once before), the entire hit isn't coming to us. The city is absorbing some of the difference, meaning we're going to need to adjust the school budget for about half of that.
As we'll now need to make adjustments in the school budget, more to come (with more details, no doubt!).

School funding part II tomorrow

Tomorrow is Part II of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau/Worcester Educational Collaborative sessions on school funding (and I'm told it will happen, whatever the weather!):

Part II: Balancing the Needs of the Schools and the Needs of the City 

Wednesday, December 3, 2014 - 7:45-9:00 a.m. 

MCPHS University, 25 Foster Street, Worcester 

 Panelists 

Edward M. Augustus, Jr., City Manager, City of Worcester 

Melinda Boone, Ed.D., Superintendent, Worcester Public Schools 

June E. Eressy, Former Principal, Chandler Elementary Community School, University Park Campus School, Claremont Academy 

Joseph M. Petty, Mayor, Worcester City Council & Worcester School Committee 

Moderator Jennifer Davis Carey, Ed.D., Executive Director, Worcester Education Collaborative

December 15 Foundation Budget Review Commission hearing

The next Foundation Budget Review Commission hearing for the South Shore is on December 15 at 4:30 pm. It will be held at Somerset-Berkeley Regional High School, 625 County Street, Somerset.

Agenda this week!

A quick note, first of all, on tomorrow night's Worcester City Council agenda: the City Manager's portion of the agenda requests Council authorization for use of the revolving funds. If you look at the backup, quite a number of these are WPS accounts, many associated with Worcester Technical High School programs.  Revolving funds set aside the money brought in by a program for the use of that program.

The Worcester School Committee meets on Thursday at 7 pm. You can find the agenda here. 
The report of the superintendent this week is the administration's response regarding an exam, or limited admission, or, as it's called on the agenda, "high school for advanced learners." There is as yet no backup; I'll post it once we get it.
We have a number of recognitions and thanks coming forward, including students who are in the Central Mass Senior Music Festival.
Miss Biancheria would like to discuss the use of silent lunches.
She is also looking for an update on the School Facilities Master Plan (still in subcommittee).
We are being asked to approve two prior year payments: one to a nurse for $5,698.70. and one to the Stetson School for $20,381.22.
We have a report on the Level 4 work being done at Elm Park Community School. 

We will be having an executive session before the meeting for two items: one for an update on negotiations with cafeteria workers, and one to open negotiations for a renewed contract with Superintendent Boone (while her contract runs through June, the School Committee must inform her of intent to not renew by January).