Several years ago a white female teacher of Irish descent in a Worcester elementary school approached a Black female colleague with a complaint. “My daughter can’t get a teaching job,” she said. “They’re looking for minorities.”
The Black teacher replied, “Well, you folks have your own affirmative action. You hire your friends and relatives.”
The white teacher scowled and walked away. A month later, forgetting the earlier conversation, she said to the Black teacher, “My daughter got a job. I called my state representative and he called the school department and she got hired. She’ll be teaching at a school where her cousin is the principal.”
The state representative’s name was John Binienda.
That’s quite a coincidence in view of the fact that the candidate for school superintendent in Worcester whose name has been bandied about the most is the current principal of South High, Maureen Binienda.
It appears she already has the four necessary votes on the school committee. City councilor Michael (I make Ted Cruz seem charming) Gaffney has praised her on his Facebook page and wants her to get the job. The committee has decided to forego a national search and select a local candidate. They’ve limited the selection to people currently employed, which means people like me can’t apply for the job.
Too bad. I would’ve made the Worcester school system great again, cut the dropout rate to zero, increased attendance by 100%, test scores would’ve doubled, trust me I know how to do things like that.
But now I’m ineligible. What are you gonna do?
I don’t know Maureen Binienda, I never met Maureen Binienda, I wouldn’t recognize her if she walked up my driveway. I’d probably think she was a Jehovah’s Witness, and I’d send Stokely, my standard schnauzer guard dog, out to chase her away. She might make a wonderful school superintendent, who knows? That’s not the point.
The point is that it’s all about white affirmative action. It’s about getting jobs through political patronage. White folks feel entitled to these jobs, so when the superintendent of schools comes from another state the political hacks lose control of the employment situation. We can assume Maureen is part of the establishment, and she’ll make sure someone’s son or daughter gets on the payroll.
Did you know that the Worcester police department has it written into their contract that the chief of police has to come from within the department? If Chief Gary Gemme leaves this year, as is rumored, his replacement is already in uniform.
Here’s an example of how it works. Before she got elected to the Worcester school committee, Dianna Biancheria had a meaningless $70,000 job in the school department. She was always highly active in former Mayor Raymond Mariano’s campaigns. Outsider Superintendent Melinda Boone cut her job. Do you know where she ended up?
Working for the Worcester Housing Authority. Do you know who heads the Worcester Housing Authority?
Ray Mariano, who got that job years ago because he had the necessary three votes from the selection committee, even though he was woefully unqualified and uncertified. He was selected over a candidate with certification and years of experience.
As novelist Kurt Vonnegut was fond of saying, “So it goes.”
by 
I used to work for the state, and I can attest to that. Nearly everybody who was hired, either temp or permanent, had an inside connection. But let me take it one step further. In the state, the best job advantage is to have an inside person. The second best is to be either Irish or a minority. The third is to be Italian. Then comes the rest. In other words, if you are just a regular old Scandinavian white boy like me, you are at the bottom. I really beat the odds when I got hired. I got hired through a temp agency. People who get hired off the street usually have a connection.
All democrats. Why you complaining?