Few issues stir up a good debate as readily as education, and the sharpest debates are over money and curriculum. But while those with rival educational philosophies often cross swords, we wonder how often they communicate.

WORCESTER — The Common Core State Standards dictate curricula, the study of literature is being phased out and students are being taught a new kind of math.

Yesterday's forum on funding public education in Worcester — the second of a two-part collaboration between The Research Bureau and the Worcester Education Collaborative — didn't achieve any financial breakthroughs or offer dazzling new education insights, but it did feature a welcome tone of cooperation between city and school officials.

WORCESTER — It started out with an acknowledgment that things had been less than "harmonious" in the past between city government and the public schools; it ended with a plan to move forward together.

On Wednesday, the Worcester Regional Research Bureau and the Worcester Education Collaborative will hold it's second panel installment of 'Funding Public Education.' Wednesday's panel, titled 'Part II: Balancing the Needs of the Schools and the Needs of the City,' will address the challenge of prioritizing funds among educational and other municipal operations.

While it is common knowledge that the city's demographics are changing, the change is more starkly represented in its schools, where the nonwhite population has increased by nearly 50 percent in the past two decades.

Leicester School Committee member Tyler Keenan is right on target ("Depoliticizing Common Core," 'As I See It,' Telegram & Gazette, Nov. 13) advising parents to listen to the opinions of teachers and school leaders who are on the front lines of Common Core standards implementation, rather than to those who argue about politics and ideology.

A doctor who contracted and survived the Ebola virus. Another doctor well-versed in dealing with infectious disease. A man whose native country of Liberia has been ravaged by the virus.

WORCESTER — Accurate, balanced information may be the best medicine against Ebola hysteria, a panel of medical and cultural experts hosted by the Worcester Regional Research Bureau told a public audience Thursday.

WORCESTER — There's no "right" way to do collaboration, but one thing is clear: It's a necessary and rewarding endeavor.