Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT)
July 6, 2011
Headline: State Board Votes 5-4 To Take Over Bridgeport Schools

By Kathleen Megan

BRIDGEPORT -- By just one vote Wednesday, the state Board of Education took over Bridgeport schools at the request of the city's mayor, school superintendent and school board president.

"It's a huge opportunity for the children," said Barbara P. Bellinger, school board president, "and for people to see that it can be done right and that sometimes it takes us some time, to step back, add some different ingredients to it to make it turn out better. That's what I'm hoping for."

During a lengthy meeting, state board members heard impassioned pleas on both sides of the issue, and board members themselves presented arguments for and against the issue.

"It's outrageous to me," said Shavonne Davis, a mother of five children, who along with about a dozen city residents voiced opposition to a takeover. "My rights as a registered voter are being taken away. We will not stand for this. ... This political game is not fair to the children of Bridgeport."

Maria Pereira, one of three Bridgeport board members who opposed the takeover proposal, said it seems as if "some of our colleagues … are ready simply to give up. We are not ready to give up on the job we were elected to do."

Pereira said it is "undemocratic … to demand reconstitution of a board who was elected by local voters."

Bellinger, Mayor Bill Finch and others told state officials of a city board mired in irreconcilable differences, arguments and bickering so intense that it can't get anything done.

"I have never seen a more dysfunctional, disagreeable, clashing, hostile situation than you have on the Bridgeport Board of Education," said Thomas Mulligan, a Bridgeport board member. "I certainly don't mind dissent and disagreement, but this board cannot achieve its purpose.

"It's untenable," he said. "It's an emergency situation in my opinion, and this resolution is the only alternative."

Shortly before the vote occurred, Allan B. Taylor, the chairman of the state Board of Education, said, "I don't know how we can say no to this request. … I think we have an obligation."

Bellinger said she could see that it wasn't easy for the board to grapple with the matter. "They have never had a school board come and say, 'Hello, we are dysfunctional, can you please save us?'"

Bellinger said the state Board of Education showed "a lot of courage" granting Bridgeport's request.

The state board's action calls for the commissioner of education, George Coleman, to replace the nine-member Bridgeport school board with a new panel, which he will appoint.

Coleman said he is not sure how long it will take to appoint a new board; he said it could be a matter of weeks. Asked whether he would appoint any of the current board members, Coleman said, "I think that given the acrimony there is, I think that there's a lot to be said for a clean slate."

He said he expects to receive many applications for the new board and he will certainly give "due respect" to any application from a current member.

Coleman said the situation - a city board of education asking the state board of education to replace it - is "unprecedented" but, he added, it is in keeping with a new state law that allows the commissioner to replace an ineffective school board.

"I think that when the legislation was passed, legislators anticipated that the state Department of Education would play a more aggressive role with school districts," Coleman said. "I think it is the natural evolution of the intent of that legislation."

Finch, Bridgeport Superintendent John J. Ramos Sr. and Bellinger requested the state's help. Ramos was not at the meeting; Associate Superintendent Robert Henry attended in his stead.

The situation in Bridgeport, the second-largest school district in the state, came to a head after it failed to approve its budget this spring.

The superintendent proposed a $233 million budget, but it was cut by the mayor and city council back to $215.8 million, keeping the school budget at the same level for the fourth year in a row. To make the cut, the board faces the prospect of laying off 300 to 400 employees and closing the Dunbar School, a K-8 school.

Besides the budget problems, Bridgeport has long struggled with student performance. Only 54 percent of its students graduate from high school. In addition, fewer than 2 percent of 10th graders at Bassick High School, one of the city's three high schools, reached the state goal on the most recent Connecticut Academic Performance Test.

Bellinger told the state board that "it has been increasingly difficult to fulfill our mission in view of a couple of things: the crushing financial limitations under which we are forced to operate" and "the unique challenges in an urban environment."

"People in Bridgeport feel like the children have been forgotten and that's a problem with us," Bellinger said. "We have not proven ourselves able to properly and effectively oversee the superintendent or the school system. …The local board and public schools have proven themselves unable to deliver the education that children of Bridgeport deserve and which the state has said they need to have."

Finch said after the meeting that he hopes the takeover will create "a cooling-off period, people will understand this is not about me, this is not about them, this is about their kids."

Finch said private donors have offered to help cover any extra costs associated with the takeover. He said the potential donors have told him they don't trust the current system and won't donate unless there is a change.

Pereira, who is a member of the Working Families Party, said the state board's decision is "incredibly disturbing… That an appointed board of education just removed an elected board of education. This is a democracy, not a dictatorship. This is about disenfranchising voters in Bridgeport."

Jon Green, executive director of the Working Families Party, said his organization would explore legal options to oppose the decision.

Taylor, who lives in Hartford, said he saw a state-appointed "board of trustees" make a "big difference in Hartford" back in the late 1990s.

"There's a lot of evidence from around the country that removing the control of the board of education from direct electoral politics is helpful in big cities," Taylor said.

While it is a "tough thing to do," to unseat elected education board members, he said, "the priority has just got to be on making the system work for children."