The metaphorical and literal future.
They have won the battle but not the war.
When we're talking about schools, we are talking about what the United States is going to look like in 13 years when today's kindergartners graduate from high school, the world that we're going to live in 20 years from now or 30 years from now, when today's kindergarteners are our future Congress, the mayors, and city council members of our communities, business leaders. So we're talking about the metaphorical future and we're talking about the literal future. -Jack Schneider
When I heard these words from education historian and policy analyst Jack Schneider, I appreciated how he succinctly conveys why we care about our public schools. We see our schools as our literal and metaphorical future, and especially in these uncertain times, we want to see our schools reflect our hopes for the future.
I didn’t plan to write anything post-election, but I got a bunch of emails from subscribers who were disappointed in the school committee election results and were wondering what they can do moving forward. I’m all about civic engagement so I love to see it. The reason why I started this substack was because I was hearing from parents and educators that they wanted to know what was going on, but the hurdle for engagement feels so high, and it’s hard to know where to start. I get it, who wants to watch a subcommittee meeting where they talk about boilers for 30 minutes? (Well, besides me, obviously). Just being here, reading about the governance of WPS is important. Sometimes that’s all we have the bandwidth to do and that’s not nothing! If you feel like you can and want to do more, here are some suggestions.
Worcester Public Schools.
There’s lots of ways to get involved and give your input to Worcester Public Schools that isn’t necessarily school committee. While school committee is important, the Superintendent has a lot of power and control over decision making and the direction of the district. I cannot emphasize this enough. One incredibly important thing the current school committee did was hire the Superintendent. She will be a stabilizing force. And if you’ve appreciated her leadership and the direction she’s moving in, let her know that. Here are some ways to get involved that don’t have anything to do with school committee:
Attend your school site council meeting. Sometimes starting small and hyperlocal helps with the overwhelm, and there’s a lot to learn about schools through the site councils.
Go to Citywide Parent Planning Advisory Council (CPPAC) Meetings and connect with the WPS Family and Community Engagement office.
If you are looking for a community to talk about school issues, I highly recommend Knitty Council and Worcester Education Justice Alliance (WEJA).
The City.
Write your new district councilor and the at-large city councilors and ask them to support increasing funding for our schools, especially the capital budget. Ask Mayor Petty to appoint the people you think would be best for the Education Standing Committee (my vote would be for Jenny Pacillo, Thu Nguyen and George Russell). Let your city councilors know that education is important to you and you expect them to support it.
The State.
The majority of WPS funding comes from the state, so the state budget and statewide decisions have a massive impact on our distric—as demonstrated by the approval of the new charter school and by the Student Opportunity Act. Following what is happening there and advocating when you can is important. The best entry point to start doing this is to subscribe to Tracy O’Connell Novick’s blog or follow her on social media. She is someone the entire state, and the region, looks to on this stuff.
Journalism.
Support local writers and journalists who are covering public meetings and asking the tough questions. The more eyes and ears the better. Engage with their work and let them know what’s important to you.
Engage with School Committee.
We now know who our new school committee will be. Engage with them and advocate for what is important to you. Especially the person who represents your district or represents the district your child’s school is in. Ask them what they plan to prioritize first. Ask them how they are going to take a leadership role in making sure we move the district forward for ALL students.
If you’re able to check agendas before school committee meetings to see what will be talked about, that’s great. Then you can make a plan to speak at public comment about issues you care about. I have thought about writing up previews of what’s on school committee agendas each meeting. If I get enough subscribers, I’ll do it. You can sign up for that by toggling it on here.
And finally, talk to your school community and your neighbors-ESPECIALLY when they don’t have all the information. That’s the power of this susbtack-I try to get as much accurate information about our schools out there as possible. Send this substack to others to subscribe. We don’t all have the same priorities for our schools, but if we aren’t all working with accurate information, having those conversations can’t be productive.
WPS in Brief doesn’t have a ton of subscribers, but you all are dedicated. The read rates on this substack are always north of 70% and that tells me that for one reason or another, whether you are a parent, an educator, a student, or an engaged citizen, you care about our schools. Thank you. I’ll end with the wise words from Cara Berg Powers:
At the end of the day, change is not linear. A backlash often follows the kind of progressive pickups we had in 2021. It’s normal to be discouraged. And everyone do what you need to do this week to rest up, hydrate, and catch up on your email, because next week we get back to work.
See you at the end of the month!