Did we forget there’s a special election September 4 for four open Board of Education seats? The Democrats have endorsed three members of the state-appointed school board, Jacqui Kelleher, Ken Moales and Hernan Illingworth. The Republican candidates are husband-wife Wayne Hayes and Evelyn Hayes and ex Republican Registrar of Voters Joe Borges. Waiting word from Connecticut’s Working Families Party about its candidates.
The WFP currently has two members on the elected board, Maria Perreira and Sauda Baraka. Other members of the elected board are Democrats Bobby Simmons, Tom Mulligan and Leticia Colon who is also a member of the City Council. Assuming Colon resigns from the BOE, sitting members can select a replacement.
Dormant for almost one year as a result of the state takeover of schools, the elected school board will be reseated once the results of the special election are certified. The special election was ordered by the Connecticut Supreme Court following a court challenge of votes by the local and state school board supporting state control.
Unless lightning strikes the three Democratic school board candidates, by virtue of the Dems mighty registration advantage, will win election. The fourth seat, however, due to state-mandated minority party representation, will go to one of the Republican or WFP candidates, and will be the center of action for this race. Democratic operatives, in an ironic twist from three years ago, want to elect one of the Republicans fearing growing influence of the WFP. A number of Dem pols helped to elect Pereira and Baraka, leaving Republican candidates in the cold. Now they want to embrace one of the Republicans because, they claim, Pereira and Baraka will not work with them. Yes, be careful what you wish for.
Republican Town Chair John Slater says the GOP has three solid candidates including the husband-wife team with accounting backgrounds and Borges, a veteran campaigner.
Statement from Wayne Hayes: “We need to better serve our students and equip our teachers with the tools and resources to provide a more rigorous academic program. We need to manage spending and provide more transparency in decisions. We need to partner and collaborate with local programs that are effectively addressing education issues and seek out sustainable solutions to the issues at hand. The board, teachers and parents must be active partners working towards the advancement of the education provided for our students both in terms of the environment and the curriculum to ensure the interests of our children are prioritized.”
Statement from Evelyn Hayes: “We must get to the root of issues that are causing our dropout rates to increase, deteriorating the aptitude of our children to become successful adults and preventing funds from going straight to the classroom. We need a fresh perspective on spending and enhanced programs and curriculum to adequately meet the needs of diverse learning styles and underperforming and at-risk youth at each grade level. As a mother, I understand the importance of supporting our children in their journey to success and meeting them where they are at these key stages of their lives.”
Mojo // Jun 18, 2012 at 12:17 pm
*** I like “Joe Borges” for the BOE on the GOP side; also didn’t L. Colon resign from the BOE to go back to the city council? Good luck to all the candidates running; being on the Bpt BOE seems like a thankless, stressful, endless politically demanding job! So for all the winning candidates who will end up on the BOE in Nov. 2012, remember! *** WHEN IN DOUBT, VOTE “NO!” ***
CT Taxpayer // Jun 18, 2012 at 6:36 pm
Given some recent reading I have done, I have developed very serious doubts about the actions and effectiveness of the new board of education central office administration. I will continue my reading, hoping my increasingly negative views can be changed, but I know with certainty the appointed board of education should not extend the contract of the interim superintendent.
Bridgeport’s schools have had far too troubled a history for any superintendent to provide effective leadership for them, while also providing leadership for numerous other projects. Were a principal to tell Mr. Vallas she could run her school, while also running several other businesses, he would tell that principal to take a hike and find other employment. And the job of a principal, while time consuming, doesn’t have nearly the expansive impact as does the job of a superintendent of schools.
How can the board of education not be embarrassed by recent press by Jonathan Pelto and others? How can the current board even consider extending the contract of the superintendent when there is growing doubt about his work in Bridgeport?
I urge the voters to consider the votes taken by those board of education candidates who are also members of the appointed board of education. No one should vote for a board member who votes to extend the superintendent’s contract before he has provided sufficient evidence of his effectiveness. We are watching.
Oh. And I’m still waiting for the Connecticut Post to begin doing some serious reporting about the Bridgeport Public Schools. How is it that it hasn’t picked up any of the recent reports of concern?
John Marshall Lee // Jun 19, 2012 at 4:21 pm
Let’s look at the numbers, OK?
But where can you find the fiscal story of the Education System?
One would think eleven months of BOE expenditures would show in the report issued last Thursday in the same line item format as the last report in February (covering eight months) that showed over 380 expense line items. LAST WEEK THE REPORT SHOWED ONLY THREE (3) LINES OF EXPENSES. Open? Accountable? Transparent? City MUNIS report?
It does not appear to be true. So who is responsible for the MUNIS mess regarding education? Are the numbers correct? How to know if no detail? Take a look at the report, see if it meets your expectations. And complain to your CC rep. if it does not. Just the facts, Mayor Finch. Why hide the facts? And why not provide the reports each month to the public? Unless there is so much turmoil in the financial administration process even you don’t know the facts? Is that possible? But Tom Sherwood has such a confident smile on his face, so you must know ALL OF THE FACTS and FIGURES, right? So you’re just messing with the public, right? Messing with the taxpayers? And that would be more than mismanagement, wouldn’t that be called misuse of funds? Time will tell.