In the first of a series of forums, Mayor Bill Finch will kick off his education listening tour on Feb. 6, 6 p.m. at Cesar Batalla School, 606 Howard Avenue offering the public an opportunity to share input on the state of all Bridgeport schools.
“We want to hear feedback from Bridgeport residents about the education opportunities that exist in our city,” says the mayor in a statement. “We are ready to build on our successes and take whatever steps are necessary to accelerate improvement, raise graduation rates and help all students move to advanced levels of achievement in Bridgeport.”
The mayor’s office says comments will be limited to three minutes per person, and per organization or group. Those wishing to speak at the forum should contact Joshua Thompson, the Director of Education and Youth Policy via email at Joshua.thompson@bridgeportct.gov or by telephone at 203.576.3975 no later than 4 p.m., Monday, February 4.
Written comments will be accepted and made part of the record. Speakers are encouraged to bring three copies of their written comments to the forum. Copies of written statements should be submitted no later than 4 p.m. on Monday, February 4, Joshua Thompson via e-mail: Joshua.Thompson@BridgeportCT.Gov or by mail to: Joshua Thompson, Director of Education and Youth Policy, 999 Broad St., Bridgeport CT 06604.
The information gathered during the forum will be submitted to the Board of Education and the City Council.
What a great idea, a series of forums, Mayor Bill Finch will kick off his education listening tour but there’s a problem, Mayor Finch does not listen, he wants to tell. He will take no notes of what is suggested, there will be no transcript of these meetings. Mayor Finch cannot accept any type of criticism so at these meetings he will be looking for just “yes” people and cheerleaders. These will be just feel-good meetings with nothing positive coming from them.
Mayor Finch doing everything but bringing in companies that would provide decent-paying jobs, doing something about the lack of affordable housing not to mention the problem of crime. Mayor Finch’s idea of education reform is funneling tax dollars to private businesses that are friends of his … not educating the kids.
I am unimpressed with Ron Mackey’s ability to predict or describe the future. He finds victory in failure and then brags about it.
Local Eyes, coming from you I find it a compliment.
Finch wants control of the BoE and the billion dollars that will be coming soon for new schools. For over five years Finch flat-funded the BoE. Now he cares?
Bill Finch and education … now there’s an oxymoron. And BlackRockGuy is spot on as to Finch’s inability to generate any substantial new business or industry into Bridgeport. All are intertwined.
Bill Finch is the kind of man who engages in manipulative behavior to accomplish the simplest tasks. So what we have here is the man acting as if he’s really concerned. In reality he’s just trying to garner votes.
Maybe he can explain why the BOE had to stop the current online benchmark testing for two days. Previously, when students took the test their computers would ‘glitch’ out–and respond stating internet access was lost and they have to press one of two keys to go back to their original question or retake the test. Additionally, the test didn’t specify when a section ended and many students continued on to another section. Either events would invalidate test scores.