From Keith Phaneuf, CT Mirror
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a $51.1 billion biennial budget early Tuesday morning that features a broad-based state income tax cut and dramatically boosts funding to local school districts.
The package, which passed 139-12 with strong bipartisan support following a nearly three-hour debate that began late Monday, now heads to the Senate, which also is expected to approve the budget before the regular 2023 legislative session adjourns at midnight Wednesday.
The two-year plan spends more on higher education and social services. But opinions were mixed about whether that would be sufficient to avert layoffs and service cutbacks in either field or whether it would provide enough to end an ongoing strike at group homes for the disabled.
The budget appropriates $25.1 billion for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and $26 billion in 2024-25, narrowly falling under the spending cap in each year.
Full story here
There is no doubt that Bridgeport is a City that depends on the State of CT for the dollars necessary to maintain its public schol system so the above article by Keith Phaneuf can inform us generally. However, as presented, there is no reporting on the range of potential effects for the coming budget year IN BRIDGEPORT.
Critical comment from folks in the know, with reliable and regular oversight of all things Bridgeport BOE, appeared as an OP-ED in the CT Post this morning from Gladys Walker-Jones. Where and when will members of the public see and hear potential Superintendent candidates? Two days notice or even three may satisfy legal criteria, but they are not signals to the parents and taxpayers of a community Board that has an interest in helping its constituents to understand, trust, and support their mission with youth.
Would a reprint of the OP-ED be beneficial to OIB readers? Time will tell.
Posted under you. Could you kindly answer any questions you can.
Let us correct some inaccuracies in the recent opinion published in the CT Post and address a few other issues with Mr. Marshall-Lees comments on the piece. This has been the most open process in years even on the compressed timeline due to circumstances beyond our control.
One, the Bridgeport Board of Ed Released information on the upcoming forum on plenty of platforms including social media, Only in Bridgeport, Facebook, ParentSquare (a platform that notifies 19,000 over families of goings on in the district). There have been Text Blasts and emails as well. These went out beginning on May 26th! Not two days before. 13 DAYS BEFORE.
Two, the article mentions The Bridgeport NAACP education committee, The Bridgeport WFP, and a thing called the Advocacy for Gap Elimination & Equity in Education, Earnings, & Environment, LLC. A simple google search of the latter will show Ms. Walker-Jones as one of two members of the board or whatever it may be. As far as the Bridgeport WFP, of which I’m still a member, there are only three or four active members, besides myself, unless it’s close to an election then everyone comes, (I’m currently taking a break). That leaves Ms. Walker-Jones voice about 25% of the group. I wonder if there was any outreach to the board, any vote by the party prior to issuing this opinion piece with their name on it? Calling Sauda Baraka, and JoAnne Kennedy?
Finally onto the Bridgeport NAACP and the finance committee. How many times have they met? Was this opinion approved by NAACP leadership? Did the communications director see the opinion piece before it went out? Was it checked for accuracy? (Calling John Marshall-Lee and Dr. Lesly) Did anyone from any of these three groups even bother to reach out to the board in the 13 days that this forum was publicly announced on multiple platforms?
I must reiterate: This has been one of the most open process in recent memory.
There were community forums with multiple stakeholder groups, surveys for stakeholder input in multiple languages. Attendance and participation in the community forums included: teachers, administrators, local leaders members of Faith acts, Bridgeport NAACP, About half the Bridgeport WFP, and the Advocacy for Gap Elimination & Equity in Education, Earnings, & Environment, LLC. of which the author is one of two members.
Will I get the answers from these groups and people I asked these questions of? Time will tell.
Until then the misleading words of Ms. Walker Jones are hers, and hers alone.
Please be sure and come out and learn about the finalists first hand tomorrow, don’t rely on incorrect information from second hand sources.