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In this discussion of student-centered decision making, officials from Rochester, NY and Worcester, MA discuss how to put traditional biases aside and agree to living contracts, benchmarked teacher salaries and common standards of accountability.

This conversation features Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Manuel Rivera and Adam Urbanski, president of the Rochester Teachers Union, vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and director of the Teacher Union Reform Network. It is moderated by Paul Reville, director of the Center for Education Research & Policy at MassINC and Roberta Schaefer, executive director of the Worcester Regional Research Bureau.

The discussion is sponsored by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau and the Center for Educational Research & Policy at MassINC, which is in the midst of examining new models of labor-management relations in public education.

The Worcester Regional Research Bureau is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to conducting independent, non-partisan research on financial, administrative, management and community issues facing Worcester's municipal government and the surrounding region.

The mission of the Center for Educational Research and Policy at MassINC is to develop a public agenda that informs and promotes significant improvement of public education in Massachusetts. The work is motivated by a vision of an education system that creates the opportunity to educate every child to be successful in life, citizenship, employment and life-long learning. By applying nonpartisan, independent research, journalism and civic engagement, the Center is creating a civil space to foster thoughtful public discourse to inform and shape effective policy.