from insideWorcester.com
By Dave Greenslit CORRESPONDENT

WORCESTER —  The city is diverse and becoming more so, presenting both challenges and opportunities.

That was the consensus of several speakers today at a forum called “The Changing Face of Worcester,” sponsored by the City Manager's Coalition on Bias and Hate and held at Worcester Public Library.

“Worcester remains a vibrant city made up of people from just about everywhere in the world,” said Edgar Luna, who works in the city's Department of Planning and Regulatory Services and gave an overview of 2010 census data.

That data show Worcester's white population has dropped from 70.8 percent in 2000 to 59.6 percent in 2010, while the Hispanic and black populations have grown from 15.1 percent to 20.09 percent and from 6.2 percent to 10.2 percent, respectively.

Ravi K. Perry, an assistant professor of political science at Clark University, said Worcester has always been a city of immigrants, but today's arrivals are from Southeast Asia, Central America and Africa, instead of Italy, Ireland and Armenia.

Medium-sized cities have been slow to respond to their changing populations, he said, but that doesn't have to be the case in Worcester. Calling the city one of the most diverse in the country, he said, “Worcester has the opportunity to be a model if we pay attention to these local demographics” and learn how minority interests can be represented.

School Superintendent Melinda J. Boone noted that 65 percent of students in Worcester schools are minorities and that 80 different languages are spoken by students in the system. Under a 2009 agreement with the federal Justice Department, all major school documents are translated into several of the major languages.

“We have a very diverse school population, and that's a real asset,” she said, adding that the changing demographics also present a challenge in achievement, especially because so many students are poor.

“We want to expose students to programs and opportunities that will close that gap,” Ms. Boone said. “An undereducated citizenry will cause Worcester to shrink and shrivel.”

Education will break the cycle of poverty by preparing students for the type of jobs that will be available to them, she said.

Mark Bilotta, chief executive officer of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium, said area colleges, with 30 percent minority enrollment, have some catching up to do to match the percentage in the city.

The consortium is working, he said, to retain talent for the regional workforce and to ensure students are prepared to work in a global economy, something enhanced by Worcester's diversity.

Luis G. Perez, a retired juvenile court judge, also stressed the importance of education. He said the dropout rate and the number of minority students expelled eventually results in many people being sent to prison.

“I believe in prevention,” Judge Perez said. “And the most important tool in prevention is education.”

“If the School Department doesn't do their job, where do people turn to? They turn to the courts,” he said.

Also speaking at the forum were Dr. Matilde Castiel of the UMass Memorial Medical Center and Stephen Hill of the city's Department of Neighborhood Services/Economic Development.