The City Council is expected to approve a question for voters to decide on Nov. 6 regarding a mayoral-appointed Board of Education versus the current system of electing members. Mayor Bill Finch argues if you’re going to hold me accountable for city schools, give me the tools to improve them. In a school reform effort Finch supported state control of city schools with members appointed by the state. The Connecticut Supreme Court invalidated state control of schools on a technicality and ordered a special election for four open school board seats for Sept. 4. The Supremes ruled the appointed board will remain in place until the results of the special election are certified.
The mayor empaneled a Charter Revision Commission which has crafted a series of ballot questions seeking City Council approval including a mayoral-appointed school board. The state-appointed board has certainly gone about its business in peaceful fashion working with education turnaround chief Paul Vallas in contrast to the drama of the elected body. Supporters of a mayoral-appointed board could very well make their case claiming a series of successes by the state-selected board members working with Vallas such as:
Construction of a new Longfellow School in the West End moving forward; planning stages for a new Harding High School on property owned by General Electric on Boston Avenue; balancing the school budget; building a five-year budget plan; addressing school safety issues; streamlining payroll costs and reducing administrative deadwood; implementing a textbook program; improving utilities and operational efficiency; building relationships between the school system and area universities.
Opponents will claim the old way wasn’t perfect but don’t sacrifice democracy for an appointed body whose creation was shrouded in secrecy. Interestingly, two candidates for State Senate Ernie Newton, ex music teacher, and Andres Ayala, ex classroom teacher now a school administrator, have not come out against an appointed school board. (OIB is awaiting a response from incumbent Ed Gomes on this issue.)
OIB today received a statement from the North End Community Council regarding its opposition to a mayoral-appointed school board. From NECC President Rev. John Carswell and NECC member Jeff Kohut, 2011 independent mayoral candidate.
On July 12, 2012, at a special meeting of the board of directors of the North End Community Council (NECC), and at the general membership meeting that immediately followed, the NECC board of directors and membership voted unanimously to oppose the proposed changes to the Bridgeport City Charter concerning the Bridgeport Board of Education that were among the changes recommended by the Charter Change Commission and are slated to be considered by the full City Council for placement on the ballot in the November elections. (See “Motion” below, following “Statement.”)
Specifically, the NECC board of directors and membership unanimously voted to go on record as being opposed to the proposed changes to the Bridgeport City Charter that would grant the mayor the power to select the full membership of the Bridgeport Board of Education and deny the people of Bridgeport their right to democratically select the members of that board.
The NECC believes that only citizens of Bridgeport who are willing to subject themselves to the rigors of pursuing service on the Board of Education via the electoral process are worthy of representing the interests of the school children of Bridgeport on that board.
The NECC believes that the best way to determine a prospective board member’s character and level of motivation to serve, their educational philosophy, their ability to perceive and solve complex problems as part of a democratic decision-making body, as well as their ability to represent the interests of a critical and demanding citizenry and their dependent children, is best determined by having them face the public and the media in a months-long electoral process. Direct appointment to the board by the mayor is an inappropriate political shortcut that cheats the public out of their right to scrutinize and select the best and most motivated candidates for service on that critical decision-making body.
The NECC expects the Bridgeport City Council to intervene on this manner on behalf of the public and vote to exclude the aforementioned Board of Education items from those charter revision items recommended by the full City Council for inclusion in the Charter Change Referendum section of the November 2012 election ballot.
Motion put forth and passed by the NECC BOD and general membership on Thursday, 7/12/12:
“The North End Community Council (NECC) officially opposes the proposed change to the Bridgeport City Charter by the Bridgeport Charter Change Commission whereby the Bridgeport Charter will be amended such that the Bridgeport Board of Education will no longer be chosen by a democratic process every four years in Bridgeport municipal elections, but rather will be appointed by the mayor through new mayoral powers granted through the aforementioned amendment to the Bridgeport City Charter.
“Furthermore, the NECC requests that the members of the Bridgeport City Council oppose said Charter changes and vote against the placement of said measure on the ballot in the November 2012 elections.”
* The NECC will conduct a citywide, public informational meeting in the near future to disseminate critical information and solicit public input on this critical Bridgeport, election-ballot issue.
Mayor Finch and Paul Vallas need to watch this video “Race to Nowhere” to witness the burnout caused by excessive high-stakes testing.
Our kids need to master problem solving and higher-order thinking, which isn’t learned by marathon sessions of rote test prep.
www .youtube.com/watch?v=Uem73imvn9Y
*** I was in favor of a State-appointed board if done legally by the powers that be, but that’s a wash now! So it’s back to the old way of getting “nowhere fast” or giving the Mayor more power over the BOE “benjamin$!” Tough decision depending on who’s looking at it, no? I would say city pro-education supporters will probably vote for an elected BOE and those loyal to the Mayor or not familiar with the BOE system will vote for an appointed BOE. I for one will vote for the “nowhere fast” elected BOE just because I don’t have faith in the Mayor and the way he does things in general. However, lack of knowing the facts by voters will be in the Mayor’s favor due to the Obama voters wave! Wonder if they’ll be any other “meaningful” questions from the Charter Revision or just the Mayors doings? *** Waste Not, Want Not? ***
*** Oh by the way OIB, are we not still waiting for a response to the State Senate questions submitted to candidate Gomes? Since there are no debates or real interest on a platform by Bpt voters or the local newspaper and media concerning this race, you would think the candidates would be falling over backwards to get their political message out to the voters. I guess the less voters know the better, no? *** Bpt Politics ***
Until the parents in Bridgeport start caring about the children of Bridgeport, this is all just a waste of time and money.
*** Good point B/R, good point! ***
Without jobs that employ people with minimal technical and other educational skills, Bridgeport and other American communities are letting generations of kids fall into a life trap many of their parents are already in.
1+1=2 is the same right answer in Bridgeport as in Westport. It would be a whole lot easier if parents were involved as Rising suggests, but it must be done.
Daley II in Chicago argued he deserved the school board appointees since he as mayor was getting whacked around for the Board of Education anyway.
Does that apply to the Bridgeport situation as well? It is not an argument Mayor Finch has made–if he has made it, he has not made it well.
Jim,
About Finch–I believe early in the process he made a statement to that effect but don’t know how much he has pushed that message. That if he were going to take the heat as mayor, then he should have power to select and have his selections reviewed. The problem with the BOE is so few people vote on the members, its like a few control the masses. What is the recourse when there is stagnation or no positive results (and that last statement applies to all elected positions)? You can say “vote them out” but most of these smaller elections are won sometimes on “name recognition” and not based on actual qualifications.
Mayor Finch and Chief Gaudett want parents to be more involved in raising their children. Herr Finch wants to keep parents off the Board of Education, and Herr Gaudett wants the kids off the streets.
They should be talking gun control and more about stopping the drug gangs, starting after school programs, summer job programs and leadership programs in our schools, more Boys and Girls clubs, get the churches back on the streets, start ringing doorbells.
Who’s running this City, the drug lords?
Wake the Fuck up Finch!
Finch did not give the schools a dime more for education his first four years. If he wants to make an argument for being held responsible let’s start there and not with the school board.
Pompous ass.
Bob Walsh misunderstands, a flatlined budget circa 2012 is great. When the pie is shrinking, maintaining the BOE’s budget shows leadership on the Mayor’s part. I hope the blogosphere ignores his remarks.
Thanks for delivering a message that can be understood, but you are wrong. The Mayor early this year introduced the subject of Charter Reform and Mayoral appointment process because he indicated people asked him about schools, thinking he was in charge.
The Mayor was in charge of delivering money through a budget proposal. No increase in State or City funds was included in budgets previous to this year. The Mayor knows only too well salary agreements, fuel costs affecting heating and transportation, and health benefits are areas with increasing expenses, but he let the Board and Superintendent wrestle with those issues.
THAT DOES NOT SHOW LEADERSHIP ON THE MAYOR’S PART!!!
Had the Mayor lent fiscal advisers to the process or pointed out wasteful areas or waged this discussion in the public forum, credit him with leadership. Remember, what he did was to “go to Hartford” with very different alternatives in mind, perhaps as early as 2010, and he did it in secret. And he would take away the vote of the citizen taxpayer, while not giving them the information, fiscal and otherwise, on which to become informed. Where is leadership indicated? Take as much time as you need to really think about this issue because the blogosphere will hang on your every word. No doubt time will tell.
Then why didn’t the mayor shrink the city budget?
Local Eyes thinks he can see only what he wants to.
And ignoring fiduciary responsibilities to fund pensions is not shrinking the budget, it is skirting responsibilities.
Localized taxpayers know they are getting hammered by the Finch Administration.
Local Eyes taxpayer likes Timmy Herbst.
I’m glad we got both accountants online (David Walker, where are you?). Leadership is indicated by a BOE budget that has been constant for three years. When budgets are maintained amidst declining revenues, a genuine increase in the percentage on tax revenue going to schools increases.
I’m a risk manager who’s devised a way to lengthen the risk cycle making specific types of liability insurance unnecessary. The best way to add value is to already have it.
More from Mayor Foot In Mouth
From CT Post Blog
Dankosky also asked Finch about the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit accusing Bass Pro and its founder of widespread employment discrimination at stores across the country.
The lawsuit is a particularly sensitive issue here in heavily-minority Bridgeport because the company has said the Steel Point store will be its first in an urban area and promises to create 300 jobs.
The Finch administration is expecting many of those positions to go to city residents, according to David Kooris, the city’s new economic development and planning chief. In a pre-recorded interview aired on WNPR, Kooris said, “There will be jobs for people in the neighborhood and not just jobs but jobs that are within walking distance of home, which is an incredible, incredible asset.”
Dankosky asked Finch if the mayor had been aware of the federal lawsuit against Bass Pro.
“Did you know anything about these complaints before we brought in Bass Pro Shops as a big anchor tenant?” Dankosky asked.
“No,” Finch replied.
That’s not completely true. When our Hearst newspapers first reported on the lawsuit earlier this month, the administration said it had been aware of the issue but that the suit was dismissed in late May.
However the suit was dismissed “without prejudice” meaning the judge believed the feds did not lay out their case but gave them until July 20 to take another shot at doing so. And, as we reported this weekend, EEOC Friday submitted a much lengthier suit packed with far more detail, including allegations founder Johnny Morris, who was in Bridgeport for a Steel Point celebration a few weeks ago, is part of the employment discrimination problem.
Finch told Dankosky, “In America anybody can bring a complaint against anybody. We’ll have to see how it plays out in court.”
“I just repeat, Connecticut does not have a track record that I know of in Connecticut of discrimination,” Finch said. “So these other stores that may have had these problems are in areas like Texas where the laws are (chuckle) not as kind to minorities as they are in Connecticut.”
“I repeat where the laws are (chuckle) not as kind to minorities as they are in Connecticut.”
GR: your thinking is olde school and needs updating. Unbiased demographic studies confirm it: Minorities no longer exist.
Now I’m laughing at you!
(chuckle)
Any ethnic group that can be identified is a minority. We’re all minorities. But if all the so-called minorities were lumped together, they’d be a majority–especially in Bridgeport CT USA.
I’m an American, what about you?