Tough Task for Quality of Life Taskforce

A Taskforce Boss

Tough Task for Quality of Life Taskforce

The Worcester Quality of Life Taskforces has done much good. A recent column in the Worcester Telegram reported that the Taskforce has

1.      removed over 85 tons of illegally dumped trash

2.      levied $31, 000 in fines against the illegal dumpers

3.      visited over 3400 vacant or problem properties

4.      identified 128 homeless people encampments

5.      collected 1500 discarded needles

The Worcester Telegram article further said the following

“The task force has also visited 3,447 vacant/problem properties and citations have been issued for unregistered vehicles, overgrowth, trash, housing violation, unsecured vacant building and code violations.”

I brought attention to the overgrowth, because there is a Worcester (City) owned  property at the corner of Lake Ave. and Sunderland Road that has been overgrown  and trashed for decades. The City of Worcester has de facto abandoned the property.

Quality of Life Taskforce will have a tough time getting its boss City Manager Edward Augustus to clean up this City property at Lake Ave. and Sunderland St.

  

The City acquired the property with the intention of building a fire station. This followed the National Fire Protection Association’s best practice of locating fire stations on the outskirts of an urban area. The best practice was not followed when the City built fire stations on Grafton St. and on Franklin St.

This de facto abandonment allowed years of trash accumulation and overgrowth.The sidewalk along the property is unpassable, especially for the handicapped. Walking in the street is extremely dangerous as there is no breakdown lane at that intersection. There is no alternate route from Lake Ave. to the Plaza or to the bus stop.

Over the years several petitions have been sent to City Council in the hope that it would set a policy that would compel the City Manager to clean up the property and clear the obstructed sidewalks. One City Councillor lives nearby and drives by the overgrown and trashed City she has not done any to effectuate a clean-up. A second City Councillor has written a letter to the City Economic Department where he has no authority regarding the lot. I appreciate his effort.

In frustration I filed a complaint at the City Commission on Disabilities. This is a first step in the process of exhausting all recourses before going to Federal District Court with an Americans with Disabilities complaint. To my surprise the Commission responded and said it would investigate actions to clean up the City’s property. It sent my complaint to the Quality of Life Taskforce.

I do not hold out much hope that the Quality of Life group will overcome the objections of the City Manager who has for years intentionally ignored the problem..  

Are Schools Safer with Cops in the Building?

Are Schools Safer with Cops in the Building?

The Parkland Florida mass school shooting murders have blinded many people from making an objective and rational evaluation of the benefits or hindrances of armed police officers permanently stationed in public schools. Are the schools safer with them and could the costs of the police officers be better used?

 The Worcester Telegram has said recently the debate about School Resources Officers (school police officers) is “over”, meaning that irrationality and subjectivity has won out. As evidence recently the Tamaqua MA School District allocated money for a school resource officer.

The fact remains, however, that school resource officers have not prevented a single mass shooting anywhere in the US. Admittedly school resource officers have mitigated some shooting, but they have not prevented any.

I waited for the details of the Great Mills High School shooting in Maryland before writing this article. Initial reports were that a school resource officer shot and killed a student who had shot another student. The Sheriff Department later said that the student shooter took his own life. In either case the school resource officer did not prevent the shooting.

What have prevented school shootings are students reporting other students in need of services? This include social media monitoring and counselling. It is clear that the shooter in Parkland signaled his intent. This should not be left to the police alone. The School Safety Administrator should take the lead with the help of additional counselors.

The other proven method to prevent mass school shootings is the improvement of authorized entry to a school buildings. This issue was raised in the Good Harbor Safety Analysis report to the Worcester School Committee. The report cited a need for increased front door and other entrances safety at all of the schools.

There were no mass shooting in Worcester Public Schools before armed police officers were assigned an office in each public high school in Worcester MA.

These assignments were the result of bad publicity initiated by a racist blogger (Turtleboy), racist City Councillors (Lukes and Rosen), and an overzealous School Committee woman (Biancheria). They wanted armed police in the schools due to negative stereotypes of young Black and Latino male students.

The Worcester School District is invoiced by the police department one and one-half million dollars a year for the five officers in the high schools and for other protective patrols. The five police officers in the high schools could be reduced to two or three police officers dedicated to high school mobile patrols with additional duties in the patrol of middle and elementary schools. This alternate system should be looked at objectively as there were no mass shootings in Worcester Schools before or after the deployment of armed police in each high school.

The dollar savings could be used to hire qualified counselors, set up social media monitoring by counselors, and improved front door safety.

 It seems that any internal school problems can be handled first by the school staff and then by calling the police dedicated to mobile patrols of the schools.

When the public has asked for an evaluation of the permanent assignment of police to each high school, the Worcester School Administration has consistently responded with the mantra “the kids love them”. Although there is no material evidence of abuse of their police powers, there are antidotal articles of such abuse.

The police assigned to the high schools in Worcester do not meet the training, educational, and the experience requirements of a teacher or counselor. The police have consistently refuse to work under the supervision of a school administrator.

The police system of school patrols and assignments have been in place long enough for an objective review and analysis. It is time the Worcester School Committee and Worcester Police Department stop brushing off such an evaluation by saying “the kids love us”. It is time also to review front door safety

Halting Separate and Unequal Public Schools in Massachusetts

Halting Separate and Unequal Public Schools in Massachusetts

Worcester Panel on Fully Funded Schools, November 13, Tues. 6 PM,

Clark U. Jefferson 218

     The Supreme Court of the United States in the landmark case of Brown versus the Board of Education ruled that separate and “equal” schools could never be equal because of their separateness. The standard being “unequal” education is unconstitutional.

     Today in Massachusetts there is a systemic growth of a separate and unequal education. The cause of this systemic development of inequality is the changing demographics of some Massachusetts cities and town. This change in demographic is taking place without a comparable change in the manner schools are funded.

  

   Many Massachusetts cities are going from mostly White student populations to mostly so called minorities and immigrant student populations.

These cities, such as Worcester, Holyoke, and New Bedford have become known as Gateway Cities. Gateway is a term used to describe where people tend to first move when coming to Massachusetts.

  

   It has been objectively determined that poorer students, special education students, and recently arrived immigrant students require greater resources than the $6, 500 the State allocated per student under Chapter 70. The greatest disparities are found among special education students whose resource requirement might run as high as $15, 000 per annum.

  

   Gateway Cities are facing a spiraling shortfall of funds and a continual cutback in educational services that will only worsen overtime. This lack of fully funded resources for the students in the Gateway Cities is creating an educational system that will become more separate and more unequal.  

     The Gateway Cities are working on a lawsuit to increase the funding required for the additional resources needed by the poor, by recent immigrants, and by special needs students. Unfortunately, it looks like that lawsuit will take several years, if at all, to be effective. 

    There is building among the so called grass roots of the Gateway Cities a movement for Fully Funded Schools and Common Sense Spending. There has been a discussion event in Holyoke and parent driven resolution at the New Bedford School Committee. Worcester is having a panel discussion and advocacy event on November 13, 2018, 6 PM, Clark U. Jefferson 218.

     A partial list of co-sponsors: Clark U, Youth and Community Education Dept. (host), Green Rainbow Party, Worcester Education Justice Alliance, Progressive Labor Party, and Massachusetts Human Rights Committee, Education Alliance of Worcester, Worcester Branch NAACP, Massachusetts Action Network, SURJ, and Latino Policy Institute.

      

     Hopefully a statewide movement will develop to halt and reverse the systemic growth of a separate and unequal public school system in Massachusetts.

The Fight for Fully Funded Schools

The Fight for Fully funded School

There is a grass roots effort by a coalition of community people, parents, teachers, and students to break the half stepping by State legislators regarding fully funded schools.  This coalition is having a panel/discussion event on Tues. Nov. 13, 2018, 6 PM at Clark U. Jefferson 218. 

In the 1990s  Massachusetts schools were entirely dependent on poverty taxes for funding. This meant the poorer school districts would have inequalities based on race, class, handicap students, the needs of the new comers. These students did not get a good education and were at risk for what is now called the school to prison pipeline.

A law was passed, Chapter 70,  which allocated to each school district money based on a formula of the cost of resources per each student. Each student today is allocated about $6,000 which is sent to the respective school districts. Each town could allocated additional money as it saw fit.

A special committee of the State legislature found that after 30 some years disparities have systemically become established in the allocations. For example a handicapped child real cost of  her education is close to $15,000 which is much more than the $6000 now allocated.

The same systemic under funding can be found for low income students, recent immigrant students. 

The underfunded school districts such as Brockton, Worcester, and Pittfield are not only poorer, but have majority minority student populations. These and other cities in Massachusetts are known as Gateway Cities as they are the first stop for many immigrant families.

A new  legislative committee studied the issue and have come up with recommendations to remove the inequalities and disparities in school funding especially for the Gateway Cities of Massachusetts. Unfortunately the Democratic Party legislators, who make up about 90% of the lawmakers, have failed to adopt the recommendations.

Whether a grassroots coalition  coalition can break the systemic racism and under funding of public school is yet to be seen. I attended a meeting with the chair of the State Representative education committee and I was not encouraged by what he essentially said to us,  go slow and wait. The same words were  said to us during the civil rights  movement.  Such words led to unrest and rebellion. 

What will it take to get this supposedly Liberal Democratic Party legislation to act?

2017-2018 A Year of Struggle

A YEAR OF STRUGGLE  mAY 2017 THROUGH MAY 2018

NYC May Day 2018

Worcester May Day 2018

Carpenters protest scab labor 2018

End mass gun murders 

Busses -yes, Cutbacks- No

Radical Pedegogy Conference

City Council 2017 Police Accountability

Anti foreclosure event at Worc. Court 2017

Tenants Rights Rally 2017

No Wars in Syrias or North Korea

Education Rally in Boston

EAW Cointract City Hall 2017

40 000 Stop Nazis in Boston

Immigrant Rally against Fascism Worcester

COOKOUT FOR PROGRESSIVES

COOKOUT

Teachers for Change, Progressive Labor Party, Mass. Human Rights Committee, and many other activists and progressives

A multi-racial / anti-discrimination event. Discussion of our efforts for police transparency, fully funded schools, ending school to jail policies.

Sunday June 24, 2018, 12 Noon
Quinsigamond State Park, Lake Park Pavillion
Lake Ave. and Coburn Ave.
Worcester MA 01604

Pot Luck / Food will be available  all

Gordon 508 757 5873

Fair Housing Complaints

Overview of Fair Housing Law

State and federal law prohibit discrimination in the sale and rental of housing by property owners, landlords, property managers, mortgage lenders, and real estate agents. Learn more about your rights and responsibilities under fair housing law.

In Massachusetts, it is unlawful for a housing provider to discriminate against a current or prospective tenant based on: 

• Race
• Color
• National Origin
• Religion
• Sex
• Familial Status (i.e. children) 
• Disability
• Source of Income (e.g. a Section 8 voucher) 
• Sexual Orientation
• Gender Identity
• Age
• Marital Status
• Veteran or Active Military Status
• Genetic Information

Examples of Fair Housing Violations

Examples of unlawful practices include: 

• Refusing to rent you, or charging you higher rent or other fees, based on one of these protected characteristics. 
• Steering you away from particular properties or rental units based on one of these protected characteristics. 
• Refusing to rent to you because you rely on public assistance (for example, a Section 8 voucher). 
• Failing or refusing to make reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities, including exceptions to policies (for example, a "no pets" policy) or reasonable physical modifications (grab bars or wheelchair ramps, for example). 
• Harassing you, whether based on gender or any protected characteristic listed above. More information about harassment in housing is listed here. 
• Refusing to give you a mortgage, or charging you higher fees, based on any of the protected characteristics listed above. 
• Threatening to report you to immigration authorities so that you or your family members will be afraid to exercise any of your rights under the law. 
• Refusing to rent to a pregnant woman or a family with young children, or evicting families, because a property contains lead paint. For more information about lead paint and discrimination, click here. 
• Retaliating against you if you report discrimination. 

File a Complaint

If you have been denied housing, charged a higher amount of rent or fees, subjected to harassment, or otherwise treated unfairly by a housing provider because of one of the characteristics listed above, you should file a complaint with the AGO’s Civil Rights Division or the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Worcester Police Hiding in Plain Sight

Police Hiding in Plain Sight

On June 4, 2018 the Worcester Human Right Commission invited the Worcester Police Department to present their views to the public. The Chair of the Worcester Human Rights Commission said several time the Commission was a partner of the police. The forum certainly reinforced this perception.

The Worcester Human Rights Commission never said that it is a partner with the concerned residents of the City. Some people who asked questions were lectured about procedure. Other residents never spoke as the forum dragged on and  people left.

 I guess we should be happy that the police shared any information with us.

Some of the issues which the City police presented were:

1.     Hate Crimes – After many years of efforts by groups like the Massachusetts Human Rights Committee the police finally release hate crime statistics. The police do not include incidents that do not fit their profile in those statistics.

There were 10 hate crimes in Worcester in 2017. This number is so low it strained my and others’ credulities

2.     Body Cams – the Police Chief said that this was in “process”, but he could not name the next event in the process nor the date of the next event

3.     Diversity – The Police claimed to have a program geared toward student. However the police are compelled to hire veterans before all others in the State mandated affirmative action for veterans. Almost all successful police recruits are veterans.

4.     Horse Patrol – The police said that their horse patrols has a positive effect. Unfortunately the police could not give any evidence of the usefulness of horse patrols.

The cost of the four horses, truck, trailer, and minimum of 3 officers on a single assignment, stable, etc.  is over a half million dollars.  So far there has only been anecdotal stories of how kids liking horses. There has been no quantitative evaluation of the useful of horses by the police.

5.     The issue of complaints against police officers was presented in the best light for the police. There were few complaints last year. Most of the complaints made by civilians were not sustained. Most of the complaints made by Police commanders were sustained.  The police presented this as evidence that the police can police the police.

There might be a need for an independent auditor to evaluate all of the City’s Department including the police department.

Two concerned residents spoke of the trauma suffered by students as a result of interactions with the police.  For the elementary school children the trauma is the result of an older person adverse treatment by the police. She indicated that such trauma has been treated at Community Healthlink.

Another concerned resident point out the negative experiences of high school student with the police. She felt it was a factor in the so called School to Jail Pipelne that some characterized as racists.

I am not sure that any one in the City government is really listening or able to make effective policy.

The Politics of North High School Hurt the Students

The Politics of North High School Hurt the Students

Background

     North High School in Worcester has the largest high school populations in Worcester. Its students are mostly low income or English language learners or newly arrived. Some are all three.

     The City of Worcester is a Gateway City, a city into which many new comers arrive and live. It is well recognized that this has obligated   the City to provide increased services. Such as public education.

    It is also well recognized that low income students sometimes need increased services in order to maintain grade level. The same is also true for special education students.

    North High School like most urban schools has a majority of students with dark skin.

    The State government underfunds these students.

   

Try Our New Job Site

The Problem

     All parties say that the problem is the low standardized test scores of some of the students. This has been known for some time.  Given the demographics and the associated learning impediments, the low scores are not a surprise.

    Recently Superintendent Binienda initiated a “turnaround” program for North High School. When Principal Dyer went on medical leave, Superintendent Binienda moved her office into North High School and assumed some of the Principal’s responsibilities.

    The State Department of Education responded to the events by saying that it too was concerned.

The Fake Issues

     It is unlikely that the Department of Education (DEP) will take control of North High School. There DEP spokesperson stated as much.

    North High School does not have consistently falling standardized test scores. Its test scores for last year were higher than the year previous. This year scores might be lower than last year.

    It is already known how to improve the standardized test scores. The solution is to reduce class sizes and provide additional resources to newly arrived students, low income students, and special needs students.

    Superintendent Binienda moving her office into North High School has the feel of a publicity stunt or some other political move. I really do not see any real improvement coming from it.

The Real Issues

     A real issue is the use standardized tests to punish students, teachers and administrators. Students are denied their diplomas and teachers are fired based on test scores alone.

    Standardized tests certainly can be used to evaluate education and to make improvements.However, It makes little sense to use those tests as punishment.

     Even with the attached punishment standardized testing has not overcome the impediments of low income, English language learning, nor special needs. There is no need of further “turnaround” to tell us this.

    The real solution is to provide the needed resources to those students that are faced with external and internal learning impediments. This means fully funded public schools measured by the needs of the students and not the politicians.

Thoughts on Superintendent Binienda

     The Superintendent has done a good job overall. She was not my first choice for Superintendent, Ms. Binienda has an especially good way of dealing with the public. I met with her last summer and she was very knowledgeable and personable.

     I do not think that the School Committee should have given her such a high evaluation this cycle, when by her own admission two schools in mostly Black, Latino, low come locations are underperforming.

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