But think of the children
I’ve been biting my tongue on the education funding issue for some time now, it’s an issue where I agree with too few locals to even bother with, but it’s really getting silly now. I just noticed on the Whos of Who-cester blog another call for more ‘strongly worded letters’, as if the solution to Worcester’s problems is paper cuts for politicians. Unfortunately things are starting to get disingenuous at an exponential rate and positive arguments are lining up to do more harm than good.
Over there Tracy writes:
At-Large Councilor Rick Rushton. His request that the School Department find five new places to cut spending make one wonder if he’s been anywhere near a school budget over the past six years. One suspects not. He’s standing in front of a skeleton, trying to cut more fat. It isn’t there.
- Are you telling me there is not one no-show job in the Worcester Public Schools?
- You’re telling me that kids on Olean St need a bus to West Tatnuck School? And the ones who walk need crossing guards, even though their parents are holding their precious little hands?
- That overcrowding is as relevant in HS as it is in elementary schools and reshuffling or even outsourcing to the colleges (the colleges that will do anything for the city if we back off PILOT foolishness), isn’t possible?
- How about energy costs? Are we working on cutting down plant costs overall?
- Meals? Are the foods we provide the best and most cost effective?
- And most importantly, can we guarantee that EVERY union member in the Worcester Public Schools is carrying his/her own weight?
There are six, since I know nobody on the council has the testicular fortitude necessary to tackle that last white elephant.
Bang for the buck, we’re looking down the barrel of one of the worst deals in history. I have zero interest in my son being educated simply to pass standardized tests in an authoritarian time warp. Good luck on the rest of this one kids, you’ve just crossed the line from concerned parents, to shills fueled by mock outrage.
WPS - Making life miserable one child at a time
I was just poking around the Worcester Public Schools website looking for the types of ‘fun’ we’ve banned in town. Spurred by this story in the Washington Post, I have a feeling my decision as to whether or not my son will attend public schools will hinge less on issues like funding and quite a bit more on the degree of bat shit insane authoritarianism ruling the day. While I couldn’t find out for sure if tag and dodge ball are banned in the WPS, I did find some things that made me giggle before getting mostly depressed.
Rule 15 of the WPS code is a great one:
Rule 15. - Cellular Telephones, Beepers, and Laser Pointing Devices
A student shall not possess a beeper, pager or other mobile telecommunications or two-way radio communications device of any type on school premises or at a school-sponsored situation, provided, however, that a student may possess a cellular telephone on school premises or at a school sponsored situation but may not use such cellular telephone during the hours school is in session or during a school sponsored situation. Any such device found in a locker may be considered to be in the possession of the student assigned to the locker for purposes of disciplinary action.
While I get the basic idea behind keeping mobiles out of the classroom, am I the only one who sees a problem with banning phones at a “school sponsored situation”, to be honest I don’t know what the hell a ‘situation’ is. But if I’m reading this right a kid could be disciplined for using a phone at a football game.
But if that isn’t weird enough how about this line of logic:
Although some parents and students feel it’s appropriate to have access to cell phones during the school day in case of emergencies and other school safety incidents, notifying family members immediately during the event can interfere in school officials addressing the incident in a safe and effective manner.
link
Let’s pretend for a moment that a city HS was to have a real incident, do we really not want kids on the inside being able to phone out? Lets imagine a real deal school shooting, doesn’t the ability to communicate with people on the inside, in real time, make Police efforts easier? Or does a canned press statement by Rob Pezzella fix everything immediately?
This one was great too:
Canine Unit is helpful to keeping Drugs Off Grounds
The Worcester Police Department’s Canine Unit has been assisting the School Safety Office recently by participating in Operation DOG (Drugs Off Grounds). Officer Steve Cortes and one of his trained canine drug dogs (Bria) visited a high school and middle school within the last few weeks and showed school administrators how the special dog can detect or discover drugs in student lockers. We are sending a stern message to students and parents that drugs will not be tolerated on school property,and if they are found,long-term suspensions and/or law-enforcement involement will occur.
Operation DOG will continue for the remainder of the school year.
link
I left the spelling and grammar errors in there on purpose, but only for the benefit of those of you who enjoy pointing out my terrible spelling and grammar. I was taught by the best, you see.
Anyways, Bria must be what’s hurting MCAS scores. If I was unable to get high before class in HS I would have certainly done even worse, which is almost impossible to imagine. I’d probably still be a freshman, some 16 years later, if not for early morning bong hits in the DMHS parking lot. If not for my sitting next to a vent in algebra class, which allowed me to smoke cigarettes and weed in the middle of the day with my oblivious teacher 10 feet away, I probably would have shot the place up myself and we’re talking years before we even had mobiles to confiscate! I look forward to pulling my son out of school on drug dog day, I don’t have any interest in raising my kid to believe it’s OK to piss on the fourth amendment for the sake of prohibition.
School just doesn’t look like a very good time these days, I suggest those of you in charge get rid of the drug dogs, let kids have their mobiles back and maybe even let them throw a ball at a class mate without fear of litigation. I would imagine a system of happy kids would produce better results and maybe even justify increased funding. But just a little less irrational fear in the world would be a close second.
Worcester Public School funding blog
A kind reader just pointed me in the direction of what appears to be the early (very early) stages of a public call for increased funding of the WPS. There is not a ton of info up right now, but they have drafted some nice ‘fill in the blank’ style letters to the City Manager and City Council as well as collected contact info for just about every player involved. There is also a link to a google group that has been set up for communication.
I hope to see something come from this, my son will be of age for public schools next year and there is absolutely no way we’ll even consider them in their current state. Which feels pretty terrible for someone raised in a family of educators, mostly in the public sector.
link (thanks for the tip, T!)
