WORCESTER, MA — Members and friends of PLP protested at the City Council meeting to condemn cops in public schools.
The police presence is a racist reaction to the majority 55 percent Black and Latin students. From the beginning of this school year to November 23, 19 students have been arrested, including two from the middle school. The majority of these arrests have been for “disruption and disorderly conduct,” which are not crimes. These arrests are another aspect of growing fascism in the schools.
PLP members, some who are educators, spoke about the school-to-prison pipeline and how it has a devastating effect on mainly Black, Latin, Asian and white working-class students. We also read a petition to the Council against arresting children in schools, signed by over 100 community residents.
Schools Teach Obedience
Two professors of sociology at a local university pointed out that police in schools make the environment more dangerous rather than safer for children and teachers. The professors shared studies showing when students are arrested they do not graduate. The City is using the Alabama model for training on School Resource Officers (SRO’s), which maximizes minor infractions or annoyances and make them an offense subject to arrest. Once the cops are called to the school they’re compelled to make an arrest; now these students will have a criminal record. We stated that under no circumstances do we want cops in the schools and called for replacing SRO’s with more art and music teachers and guidance counselors, along with conflict and peer mediation. We need multiracial unity of teachers, students, parents and workers. We cannot leave the education of our children to the police, or to hedge-fund bosses.
Worcester is looking to close its $2 million budget gap, but the highest paid employees of the City, after the city manager, are police. This reflects the role of education. Capitalism needs public education to enforce discipline over our class — to teach the future workers obedience, patriotism and passivity.
Union Head Blames the Victim
Our group was multiracial, well-received, and included women and men, parents, professors, teachers and cafeteria and hospital workers. After the PLP members and friends from the community spoke, the head of the teachers union (who signed our petition) also spoke and said he agrees with us on some things. But he believes having the cops in the schools will keep the teachers safe since there have been some teachers hurt when breaking up fights between students. Such racism towards students is no surprise in a system founded on the racist reaping of super-profits off the backs of Black and immigrant workers. Teachers’ enemies are not students — it’s capitalism. There is no safe place for students or teachers under capitalism.
We need an international communist Party that fights for the working class. Workers led by PLP will continue to struggle against the criminalization of our children. We are meeting with parent groups and will make our demands at the School Committee.
PLP is taking hold of the political climate in the City of Worcester and injecting it with revolutionary politics and action. The only way to really fight for students is through the unity of teachers, students and parents. And we must point out that even with more money, even with any reform, the role of schools is to teach workers to accept and internalize capitalist relations. The final victory will come when we can unite all workers to destroy capitalism through communist revolution.