ABOUT THE PROJECT
Worcester is experiencing an inflection point in public education as a series of opportunities converge. As the City reconfigures the School Committee in accordance with the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the District is also preparing for new leadership and an updated strategic plan that will articulate a new vision for Worcester Public Schools, and leverage the large increase in state and federal education funding following the pandemic.
Uplifting Community Voice is a three-part series that seeks to promote education equity in Worcester through the development of targeted reports, community tools, and engaging resources. The project aims to build community advocacy capacity, as well as aid in the development of a responsive, equity-focused community education agenda. This project is made possible by generous funding received from the Barr Foundation.
THE EXCELLENCE SERIES
Every individual deserves access to credible facts and information about their community. The Worcester Education Collaborative, along with Worcester Regional Research Bureau, have partnered to produce The Excellence Series - three targeted reports covering school finance, strategic planning, and school governance. The Research Bureau serves the public interest of Greater Worcester by conducting independent, non-partisan research and analysis of public policy issues to promote informed public debate and decision-making.
Investing in Excellence - October 2022
The yearly budget of the Worcester Public Schools is complicated, and necessarily so. With 23,735 students and 5,149 employees spread across 46 schools, there are many moving parts of which to take account. This report aims to demystify some of the budget of the next school year, Fiscal Year 2023, as it stands today.
Check out our Interactive Data Dashboard to see revenues and expenditures broken down by category for this year and the previous four years, including an expenditure breakdown per school.
Strategizing for Excellence - December 2022
In September of 2018, the Worcester School Committee adopted Defining our Path: A Strategic Plan for Education in Worcester 2018-2023, the first strategic plan adopted in 26 years at Worcester Public Schools (WPS). The process engaged individuals from across the community and was guided by three major bodies: a Coordinating Committee, an Advisory Committee, and five Sub-Committees–one on each specific focus area in the plan. Despite significant disruptions to the education system caused by COVID 19, WPS has made and continues to make investments in the Strategic Plan's Focus Areas, summarized in this report.
However, much of the data meant to track this progress has not been made publicly available, has not been collected, or has been significantly impacted by the pandemic. As the term of Defining Our Path comes to a close and the District sets out to create a new strategic plan, this report highlights the need for effective mechanisms to collect data from the outset, measure progress, reflect on strategies, and engage with the community throughout the plans’ implementation.
Governing for Excellence - December 2022
Worcester Public Schools (WPS) is undergoing an evolution in governance, most notably with the shift to district-based representation on the School Committee. While those six new School Committee districts and the two at-large seats will be utilized in the 2023 municipal election for the first time, there are other governance reforms underway that impact schools, students, and other stakeholders in Worcester’s public education system.
This report highlights recent and ongoing change in the Worcester Public Schools’ governance structure and operations, including:
1. The new district-based representation on the Worcester School Committee
2. Changes to the rules of the Worcester School Committee
3. Organizational changes to the WPS structure under the leadership of Superintendent Rachel Monárrez, Ph.D
This report is intended to provide context and background on the implications of these changes for the Worcester Public Schools, the students, and the community at-large. For further resources and insights on the new districts of the Worcester School Committee, check out our accompanying dashboard at Interactive Portal - Voting and School Districts (arcgis.com).
THE WEC BRIEFING SERIES
The Worcester Education Collaborative is harnessing this moment to make deep, meaningful, and sustained change with a central focus on education equity. The WEC Briefing Series provides timely, community-informed reports on essential topics in education:
Early College: The Best Investment for College Success - November 2022
Early College is a leading evidence-based solution to dramatically increase college degree attainment, and is particularly effective at boosting attainment outcomes for students who are historically-underrepresented in higher education.
This report includes a current snapshot of the college success equity gap in Massachusetts, the impact of Early College opportunities in Worcester to-date, and key recommendations for expanding Early College access across the City.
Worcester Education Equity Roundtable (WEER) Position Paper: WPS Student Transportation & Worcester Education Ecosystem - November 2022
For more than a decade prior to the COVID pandemic, WPS provided bus service for its students to attend after school and community service providers in Worcester. Under this practice, students were transported to bus stops at or near provider sites.
Although there were inconsistencies in the original implementation of the WPS after school student transportation practices, the situation became worse for Worcester students, families, and community service providers shortly before the beginning of the 2021-22 school year with the issue of an announcement from the Superintendent’s Office: “Due to the shortage of bus drivers, WPS will not be dropping off students at after school daycare programs. Students will be picked up and returned to the same locations.” This decision was made with no public input and no discussion with the service providers who had previously relied on the transportation service to provide Worcester students access to their programs. The announcement also came immediately before the start of the new school year and created significant disruptions for families and providers.
The change in student transportation practices has had a significant negative impact on Worcester students, families, and community service providers by substantially reducing access to services while increasing safety concerns and disruptions in the lives of students, parents, and caregivers.
This paper includes a review of past practices for after school student transportation offered by WPS and their impact. It also includes policy positions and recommendations of the Worcester Education Equity Roundtable (WEER) on this issue.
In THE MEDIA
Media coverage of the Uplifting Community Voice project.
In 2018, the Worcester Public Schools adopted a strategic plan, the first in 25 years. As we come to the close of the five-year term of that plan and lay the foundation for the development and adoption of a new guiding document, it is important to consider progress made to date, areas where we have stalled, and lessons learned.
Worcester’s plan was unique in that it was developed through a process involving both the district and the community. The plan set ambitious goals in five areas: Creating a Culture of Innovation, Academic Excellence, Welcoming Schools, Investing in Educators, and Technology and Operations. Accountability to the outcomes articulated in the plan were to be monitored by a set of accompanying benchmarks to measure success.
And then came the pandemic.
Today, 80% of good-paying jobs require a postsecondary education, and differences in educational attainment have a profound impact on students’ future earnings. Median earnings are 20% higher for associate degree holders and 67% higher for bachelor’s degree holders than for high school graduates. In Worcester, only 48% of 2020-21 high school graduates enrolled in a two- or four-year college. Only 21% of Worcester Public Schools graduates earn a college degree within six years of graduation, and completion rates are lower for underrepresented student groups.
Fortunately, we have a proven, evidence-based solution for increasing college access and completion: early college.
