To Our Worcester Community,
The mission of the Worcester Education Collaborative (WEC) is ” to engage our community in fulfilling its responsibility to ensure that excellence in education is available to all public-school students and that they are prepared for success in college, career, and life.” To fulfill this mission, it is our obligation as an organization to speak out against hate in all forms.
WEC stands in support of and alongside our LGBTQ+ families; many of whom are students and teachers in our Worcester Public Schools. We were disturbed by a recent statement made by a candidate for Worcester school committee, that began with, “I do not support homosexual behavior… never have never will.” The statement continues: “Whether these behaviors come from demonic influence or the evils that lie in our own hearts, or both, is not up for me to decide for anyone else. But I do know that they come from only one of those two places.”
These words are hateful and harmful. WEC stands in opposition to such language and sentiments and their demonstrable impact on the lives of our LGBTQ+ students and their peers.
If we, as a community, believe that each student deserves access to education and resources that promote their health, wellbeing, and success then hateful speech, whether directed at people of color, people of different faith communities, people of differing abilities, or people of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, cannot be tolerated in Worcester.
At WEC, we work alongside our schools and every sector in our community to promote equity in education and school environments that meet the needs of each and every student.
We are calling on our leadership, our elected representatives, our school administrators and educators, and our Worcester community to stand against hate in all forms, including hateful speech about LGBTQ+ people, and show all our students, families, teachers, and staff that they are valued and celebrated as part of the incredible diversity that makes up the City of Worcester.
Worcester Education Collaborative Board of Directors
