On the evening of Wednesday, February 19, 2020, the Worcester Education Justice Alliance (WEJA) in collaboration with several other community-based organizations hosted a community forum to offer community input into how the new funding allocated through the Student Opportunity Act should be utilized in the Worcester Public schools. There were 90 people in attendance, 72 of whom completed a survey expressing their positions on issues and offering some demographic consideration. As people entered, they were asked to complete the survey. Some of the attendees (mostly those who arrived late) did not complete the survey. After some brief introductory comments and instructions, attendees were divided into six groups: Youth, Educators (including K12 and college level), Parents, Community Members, Latinx Community members (this breakout group was conducted in Spanish), and African Community members. After meeting in these subgroups, the groups then re-sorted into six groups with representatives from each of the breakout groups to share what each breakout group had talked about. On this page we include the final report out from our meeting. Also, you will see the draft of the Worcester Public Schools proposal for how to use the funding as well as the budget. You should look at both and decide for yourself if you think the leadership of the Worcester Public Schools listened to the people?
