38 comments

  1. Let me be absolutely clear. I am not resigning.

    Those who were elected to fulfill their state-mandated responsibilities as a BOE member and are refusing to fulfill their duties should resign.

    In America, if you refuse to do your job, you are either terminated or forced to resign.

    Sauda, Howard, Ben and myself showed up to the Finance Committee meeting and did what we could because Fran Rabinowitz directed her staff not to attend any more BOE meetings. Fran Rabinowitz is 100% involved in this.

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      1. BOE SPY/Coward, no one cares about CABE. We terminated our membership with CABE because they were so useless and we were paying an annual $25,000 per year membership fee.

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  2. Not that many years ago we had two presidents of the BOE. One was MAX MEDINA and prior to his service we had Michael Bisiglia, a Republican. I only mention the fact Mike was a Republican because it shows a properly educated person who knows the art of the deal can get the job done.
    These two past presidents and their serving members did one thing this board has not done and that’s think of the kids.
    These idiots think they are there for themselves and/or to build a power base. There is no doubt Maria P is a lightning rod and Dennis Bradley is a piss boy for Joe Ganim.

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    1. Andrew C Fardy, great point. Both Max Medina and Michael Bisiglia did a real good job serving on the BOE. I’m always complaining about where are the Republicans in Bridgeport. Michael Bisigalia is one of the main Republicans whom I truly like.

      Back in the 1970s Mike was Vice President at the Bridgeport Brass Company and I also worked there at the same time. I was on the union’s negotiating team and I always sat across from him and we would talk a lot and he was very honest. We would talk about the BOE and the United Fund because we were on the committee. During that time our union joined the United Steelworkers Union and our representative from them was Ed Gomes so needless to say I got a good education from both these men, one a Republican and white and the other a Democrat and black. I would get on Mike and tell him he should run for mayor. Mike Bisiglia was elected BOE President time and time again with the help of Democrats. I wish there were more people and Republicans like Mike Bisiglia.

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    2. Respectfully, I was not around then and not really paying attention. Were our children reading at grade level? Performing at grade level in math? Just curious about the yardstick being used to measure success.

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          1. CEDAR displayed years of test score results. The website was recently updated and only shows more recent data. To be clear however, I do not believe annual test scores are an accurate way to determine academic success.

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          2. So you have no yardstick for your comment because you are quoting a stat you do not believe in. Why would you make a comment like ‘this is why what I said is true but it means nothing?’

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  3. You aren’t going to resign, he isn’t going to resign, nor will Fran, so the only losers in all this bullshit are the children of Bridgeport and the residents who voted for all the BBOE members. You’re all grown-ass men and women so someone needs to step up and say cut this crap out and start doing what you were elected to do. The children of Bridgeport deserves better than this.

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  4. A hearing regarding my lawsuit against Mayor Ganim is scheduled for Monday, September 19, 2016 in the courthouse on Main St, at 9:00 AM.

    Please attend if you can. I don’t think anything meaningful will happen on that day.

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  5. In 1978, striking Bridgeport teachers were jailed by a state-sanctioned order.

    The “striking” BBOE members should be jailed. Maybe that would allow them time to regain their perspective. They are doing real, irreparable harm to this city and its children. Maybe some jail time would provide them with the right opportunity to think about ways to function in the face of serious disagreement with colleagues on the BBOE. And maybe an organizational psychologist could be hired by the city to work with the whole BBOE to help them find a way to function in some efficient, effective manner.

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    1. Jeff, the Board agreed to a date and time to have a BOE Retreat to learn how to work better together. We all agreed to the date. Dennis Bradley did not schedule it and did not so much as notify the BOE members it was not being scheduled. It was during his campaign.

      We made issue of it and it was finally scheduled. Joe Larcheveque and Andre Baker did not attend. Dave Hennessy’s seat was vacant. Dennis arrived late.

      We met for two hours and all agreed to have further retreats.

      Dennis Bradley never scheduled another retreat.

      Unless you have regularly attended BOE meetings, you have no idea of the level of his complete incompetence.

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    2. Jeff, the teachers were jailed because it is illegal for a public employee to strike. BOE members receive no pay and are therefore volunteers. This statute would not apply.

      Lacking a way to remove or recall a non-performing member of the BOE, the competent members of the BOE are left with few choices.

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  6. Jeff, I remember my parents going to bail friends out of jail during that strike. It is my understanding going on strike is no longer allowed in Bridgeport after the contracts were renegotiated that year. Can anyone confirm this?

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  7. We need someone to get involved and fix this impasse. This is the absolutely worst time for these hi-jinks to occur. The BOE is still trying to digest the Budget they have been given plus we have the court ruling which will start to play a greater role in 2017 when the new State Legislature reconvenes and we will have to see who is our Governor.

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  8. I graduated from CMHS in 1994. I remember back then budgetary issues were at the forefront. I remember using books that were more than 10 years old. Sports were funded back then, but money was always an issue. Our district has been underfunded for more than three decades. That means this issue was festering under Messrs. Medina and Basiglia. The BOE meetings may have been cordial and less “messy,” but the ball was being fumbled all over the place.

    In recent times, the minority four, whether they were Baraka, Simmons, Pereira, Bagley; or the current group Baraka, Gardner, Pereira, Walker have always fought for the students. We seem to forget it was their questioning of cell phone bills that cut that expense dramatically, just to point out an example of their research.

    The Dem Machine has always seemed to infiltrate the best efforts to have an unbothered board. The outrage should be focused on Dennis Bradley, Joe Larcheveque and Kevin McSpirit, Joe Ganim and our favorite resident of Monroe, Mario Testa. Politics aside, the gentlemen have done everything they can to sabotage the serious work of the BOE.

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    1. You don’t know how the BOE operated under Bisiglia and Medina. You are making statements that have not one iota of truth. Let me also tell you, you don’t know squat about Mario Testa. Mario lives in Bridgeport in an apartment over the restaurant. He spends weekends at his summer home. When is it illegal to own a summer home? Stop being a clone for Maria and think on your own.

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  9. Maria: I don’t contest Dennis’ incompetence one way or the other, but if decorum could be imposed upon the BOE process, it would at least provide for the possibility of the accomplishment of necessary business. And I do believe Dennis and company are 300% in the wrong in regard to their present “strike” tactic. It is just plain stupid and wrong and bound to fail in any event, regardless of how worthwhile they feel it might be in the context of their larger strategy (which I also feel must be wrong, because of the obvious possible outcomes of this “strike” strategy).

    But just to be clear on my perceptions; Dennis is providing ample evidence of his incompetence just by his e-mail to you regarding your school visit, and by this destructive “strike” tactic. This latter tactic could be perceived as the “smoking gun” with respect to indications of incompetence.

    Now if an organizational psychologist, in the role of impartial observer/referee/communications trainer were to be hired (possibly through special state funds) to work with the BOE, the incompetence of BOE leadership could be officially recognized and addressed in a non-political manner. That would certainly be a good thing?

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  10. As for who should resign? Let us not forget who was pictured with Dennis Bradley and Joe Ganim. Maria was their best buddy and adamant supporter. It is fun to engage in her revisionist history but Maria should blame her own poor judgement as the main reason we have the people she hates: Bradley, Fran and Ganim. Lighting fires so you can put them out still makes you an arsonist. It would seem her primary role as a member of the BOE is to repair the problems she creates.

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  11. BOE SPY/Coward,
    I was photographed with Dennis Bradley and Ben Walker, not Joe Ganim. I was not a member of the BOE when Rabinowitz was hired.

    I really do hope you are truly not a spy because if anyone is relying on you for solid intel they are in serious trouble.

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