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A s participants in the MTA Summer Conference Organizing Institute made home visits to members of the Holyoke
Teachers Association in August, what emerged in
conversations was a great deal of uncertainty resulting
from the fact that the Holyoke Public Schools are now
under the control of a state-appointed receiver.
“I just hope my colleagues are doing all right,”
Holyoke High School teacher Peter McAndrew told
Organizing Institute members during their visit.
Despite strong opposition from the community
to a state takeover, the Board of Elementary and
Secondary Education voted in April to place
Holyoke’s schools into receivership. Donald
Willyard and Mary Ann Stewart — the two BESE
members who actually visited Holyoke schools
before the vote — joined labor representative Ed
Doherty in voting against the takeover.
In June, Education Commissioner Mitchell
Chester appointed former Wakefield Superintendent
Stephen Zrike as the receiver for the district,
effectively ending any oversight by locally elected
representatives. Since beginning his work in July,
Zrike has laid out few plans for the district, though
he has been given many suggestions.
As required by law, the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education convened a
Local Stakeholder Group. The group included HTA
President Gus Morales and members Briget Reilly
and Shelley Whelihan. The HTA members were vocal
throughout the process, raising issues about diversity,
funding and wraparound services for students.
The HTA formed an advisory group with
representation from all of the district’s public schools
so more members could contribute their ideas. At the
end of the five scheduled LSG meetings, the HTA
had a far more detailed and comprehensive set of
recommendations than the one officially released by
the LSG to Chester and Zrike.
The HTA released its recommendations along
with a letter that said in part: “The state, acting
through its education commissioner and appointed
receiver, must now step up, address the real issues
in Holyoke, and provide the resources to give every
Holyoke student the education guaranteed by the
Massachusetts Constitution.”
MTA President Barbara Madeloni said the
state’s insistence that funding is not an issue for
Holyoke is “an outrage.”
“If the Holyoke Public Schools had received
the resources they needed from the start, they would
not have been put into a position for this type of
undemocratic takeover,” she said. “We will hold
Commissioner Chester and his receiver accountable
for providing Holyoke educators and students with
the resources they need to succeed.”
Moreover, Madeloni said, “Attention to the
struggles within Holyoke must address economic and
racial injustice within the larger community.”
Among the HTA’s recommendations for
improving the schools were hiring sufficient
numbers of counselors and social workers, making
sure that educators who work with English
language learners and students with special needs
are allowed to carry out education plans instead of
being pulled away to proctor standardized tests,
providing at least one field trip per year for all
classes, creating an alternative school for students
with behavioral problems, ending the K-to- 8 model
for schools, and restoring career development
programs.
The LSG voted to include the HTA’s
recommendations as an appendix to the official report,
which was submitted in July. In their cover letter,
HTA representatives noted that their recommendations
deserved to be more than an appendix.
Meanwhile, the HTA saw a wave of educators
departing throughout the summer due to nonrenewals,
retirements and moves to other districts.
“I just hope my colleagues are doing
all right,” Holyoke High School teacher
Peter McAndrew told Organizing Institute
members during their visit.
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