2021 School Committee Election
The Worcester Education Justice Alliance (WEJA) knows that the School Committee Election is an important place where we can advocate for greater racial and social justice in education. Rather than endorse candidates, WEJA sought to use this opportunity to assess how each of the school committee candidates aligned with WEJA’s core values. We developed a list of 29 policy questions that are connected to current educational policy debates that could conceivably come before the Worcester School Committee. We asked candidates to indicate whether they would be in favor of the question (Yes) or against it (No) much like they would have to vote on the school committee. We compared their answers against the way WEJA would recommend voting based on our core values. We also gave them an opportunity to provide comments. If their answer differed from WEJA’s ideal answer but our steering committee felt that their comments reflected important considerations, we gave the candidate a ½ a point for their answer. Candidates got points for every answer that was consistent with WEJA’s resulting in a score out of 29. If candidates did not answer a question they were given a zero unless their answer was offered in the comments or they obtained partial credit from their commentary. Their final score was converted into a percentage just like Worcester Public Schools do on their report cards. We hope this process is able to help you decide who you will vote for. You may not agree with WEJA’s preferred answer for each question, regardless, digging into each candidates questionnaire will allow you to decide how each candidate aligns with your own values and viewpoints.
Below you will find each candidates score, their percentage, and number out of 29 correct according to our rubric. You will find WEJA’s values, the set of questions along with WEJA’s preferred answer, and spreadsheet showing a snapshot of each candidates answers. If you click each candidate’s image, you will be taken to a PDF where you can see the raw data of each candidates responses and explanations to each question in the format that the survey was distributed.
Click on each candidate to view their answers and responses to each question
WEJA’S 2021 SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT CARD
WEJA’s Core Values and Principles
Public Schools are Public Institutions: Schools must be transparent and accessible to the public, and be held to the standards that any other public institution would be held to.
Fully Funded Schools: Our schools must be fully funded for success and equity. Stronger schools sustain stronger communities.
Community Voice and Power: Our voices matter; students, parents, teachers and community residents must be valued and respected for their knowledge and contributions.
Inclusion and Safety: Schools must be welcoming and respectful places for all, regardless of income, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, legal status, birthplace or unique needs and abilities.
Racial Justice: District and school leadership must work to identify, acknowledge, unlearn, and undo structural racism in curriculum, hiring, and discipline.
Well-Rounded Curriculum and Student Citizenship: A rich, varied, engaging, and culturally responsive curriculum is the key to student success. Schools should support students in their journey towards becoming creative and independent thinkers, questioners and conscientious citizens.
Questions and [WEJA’s Preferred Answer]
Questions Related to Curriculum
1) Do you approve of the Worcester School Committee’s vote in May 2021 to implement the comprehensive sex education curriculum, “Rights, Respect, Responsibility,” for Worcester Public Schools. [YES]
2) Would you advocate to the State Legislature for the elimination of the 10th grade MCAS as a graduation requirement for high school students in Massachusetts? [YES]
3) Would you advocate to the State Legislature for the elimination of high stakes standardized tests, like the MCAS, to evaluate school performance (and put in place alternative ways to evaluate schools and educator performance)? [YES]
4) Would you work to allocate District resources away from some standardized curriculum and software purchases to provide more autonomy for schools and teachers to decide what learning tools and materials they want to include in their classrooms? [YES]
5) Would you support legislation that bans the teaching of “Critical Race Theory” in schools? (see here, for example: ? [NO]
6) Would you support an initiative that mandates professional development in universal design for all teachers (mainstream and special education teachers) who work with students with a special education plan? (see here, for example) [YES]
Questions Related to Funding
7) Would you advocate to the State Legislature for the passage of the proposed “fair share amendment” to our state constitution, which would create a new tax on millionaires to fund public education? [YES]
8) State spending requirements enable local communities to spend more than the minimum required by the Chapter 70 Foundation formula. Most local communities do spend more than required to address the educational needs of their students; on average, local communities spend 25% or more above their required allocation. Worcester typically funds right at the minimum required by the Chapter 70 Foundation formula (give or take roughly 1%). If you were elected to school committee would you advocate for the city to spend 10% or more above the required foundation formula even if that means the city would have to secure additional revenue? [YES]
9) Do you support the calls from members in the community that the funds the city previously provided to support School Resource Officers be re-allocated to other programs in the Worcester Public Schools? [YES]
Questions related to Staffing and Leadership
10) Would you support merit pay or bonuses for teachers who are considered highly effective in producing strong education outcomes (based on measured test score improvements) for students? [NO]
11) Would you support signing bonuses or additional pay stipends for certified bilingual teachers to attract more bilingual/bicultural teachers to our Worcester Public Schools? [YES]
12) Do you support utilizing ‘diversity bonuses’ or other similar intentional recruitment strategies in order to recruit more teachers of color to Worcester? (For example, see section 6 [bottom of page two] of this Minnesota Bill) [WEJA’s Steering Could Not Come to Consensus so everyone received full credit for this regardless of their answer]
13) Do you support the expansion (i.e. funding, outreach, inclusion of bilingual teachers) of ‘Grow Your Own’ programs that recruit teacher candidates from non-traditional populations (e.g., high school students, paraprofessionals, and after-school program staff) who are more likely to reflect local diversity and more likely to continue to teach in their communities? For more info see here and here) [YES]
14) Do you support the expansion of the role of Worcester Public Schools Chief Diversity officer to extend beyond human resources and DEI regulations/compliance to include addressing inequities in other areas of schooling (i.e. school discipline, academic outcomes, profession development, etc)? (See the former job description) [YES]
Questions related to student discipline and student life
15) Would you advocate for secondary schools to begin later in the morning to allow adolescents to sleep later? (see this attached literature review of 38 articles related to the topic) [YES]
16) Would you support a moratorium on suspensions and expulsions that are not directly associated with violence or drugs or issues of direct safety for the educational communities? [YES]
17) Would you support a ban on all suspensions in grades pre-K through 3rd grade? [YES]
18) Do you support the City’s decision to end the placement of School Resource Officers (SROs) in Worcester Public Schools? [YES]
19) Do you support the creation of restorative justice programs in the schools? (see this guide from Vermont) [YES]
20) Would you support an audit to examine the relationship between the Worcester Police Department and the Worcester Public Schools? [YES]
Questions related to school choice
21) Do you support the creation of additional innovation schools in Worcester that “can implement creative and inventive strategies, increase student achievement, and reduce achievement gaps while keeping school funding within districts?” (See here) [YES]
22) Are you in favor of expanding the number of charter schools in Worcester? (See here) [NO]
23) Would you support the creation of new exam school where the admission to the school would be determined by the score on a standardized exam? (See here) [NO]
24) Do you believe that Worcester Technical High School should continue to consider grades, test scores, conduct, and attendance records in its process for admissions? (see here) [NO]
Questions related to community voice and accountability
25) Will you ensure that Worcester public schools establish active site councils in every single school in order to develop the school improvement/accountability plan, develop site specific goals and review the school site budget as stipulated by state and federal law?(see here) [YES]
26) Will you work to ensure that parents (and students in high schools) are part of the hiring committee for faculty and administration? [YES]
27) Will you work to make sure that all data that the school district collects and all research that is completed by outside researchers in the Worcester Public Schools is made available to the public when it is legally acceptable to do so? [YES]
28) Would you vote in favor of allowing 16 and 17 year-olds to vote in local elections (as they do in Hyattville, and Greenbelt, Maryland and in Berkeley and Oakland, California)? (for more info, see here) [YES]
29) Would you support the creation of an anonymous online and phone bias incident reporting and investigating process for incidents that occur in the Worcester Public Schools? [YES]
Candidate Responses Spreadsheet
