WORCESTER — A Worcester Regional Research Bureau forum Tuesday at Assumption College was billed as a panel discussion on the differences between public and private budgets.

If you were looking for rosy economic forecasts, yesterday’s Research Bureau forum on the fiscal 2014 financial outlook was not the place to be. The takeaway from “Fiscal Fitness: What’s the regimen for FY14?” amounted to stark numbers and difficult choices at both the state and municipal levels.

WORCESTER — State Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell D. Chester has found a lot to like about Worcester’s schools, but he said more aggressive action on teacher performance is needed statewide.

The Research Bureau’s latest report — “Academically Selective High Schools: Should Worcester Public Schools Have One?” — offers a ringing endorsement of bringing such a school back into Worcester’s education portfolio, modeled in part on the long and venerable history of the city’s Classical High School, which closed in 1966.

WORCESTER — The Worcester Regional Research Bureau, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in the city, has released a report recommending the city establish one or more schools for academically talented students. The report, available at www.wrrb.org, arrives as an ad hoc committee appointed by the mayor considers whether to establish an exam school or an international baccalaureate program, or both.

WORCESTER — More debt, higher interest rates and higher costs are the woes City College of New York professor and conservative think-tank fellow Daniel DiSalvo laid at the door of unionized public employees yesterday in a forum at The Research Bureau.

WORCESTER — The Research Bureau has recommended that the city should not limit the number of licensed livery vehicles because such action would only encourage the spread of illegal, unregulated livery services.

This past July, the Worcester City Council issued a temporary moratorium on the issuance of livery licenses so it can study whether to cap such licenses, as is done with taxi medallions.

It is regrettable that The Research Bureau, the city’s foremost source of public information and independent data-gathering, has come under attack. It is even more unfortunate that some of the sniping comes from members of the City Council who should appreciate the value of the work the bureau has contributed in the last quarter of a century.

Americans have grown accustomed to pessimistic economic forecasts, and one delivered by the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston last week was sobering. Yet, Eric S. Rosengren’s outlook may have been too optimistic.