Saying “I will never seek to deprive or limit school voting rights of parents and families who should elect their education officials,” Joe Ganim today offered several education initiatives he says he will implement if returned to City Hall. Ganim’s voting-rights declaration is a criticism of Mayor Bill Finch who engineered a state takeover of schools overturned by the Connecticut Supreme Court and then sought to appoint school board members in a charter question rejected by city voters.
In a news release the Ganim campaigns says the candidate marked the unofficial end of summer by welcoming students back to school and pledging to make education improvements one of his initiatives upon taking office.
“Serving as a champion for youth to create positive programs must be a top priority and I intend to make a profound difference for our school system and an effective reliable partner for all those who care about educating our students,” stated Ganim. “On day one of my administration, I will ask the Superintendent and education officials to meet to discuss their top goals and to begin a truly collaborative approach with the school district. I will undertake a series of meetings during the school year with teachers, school administrators and education leaders.”
Finch’s education policies, including support for a state-appointed school board has received some pushback from voters, an area Ganim hopes he can sway voters. After the Connecticut Supreme court ruled the July 2011 state takeover of schools was illegal, Finch placed a question on the 2012 presidential ballot to provide him the power to appoint school board members. The vote was rejected by voters, especially in African American neighborhoods with Barack Obama on the ballot, who wanted to maintain an elected body. The next year three Democratic-endorsed candidates for school board were defeated by insurgents.
Finch’s reelection campaign is highlighting education achievements in this race, including what the mayor calls a historic school construction program and access to pre-k.
“I would never, nor will I ever delegate to some aide or staffer the job of improving our schools,” says Ganim. “Nor will I allow outside special interests to co-opt our educational system for their own private priorities.”
The education initiatives Ganim pledges for his mayoralty include:
1. Reducing class size and student to teacher ratios.
2. Create better city-school programs to reduce school drop-out rates and prevent absenteeism.
3. Establish more after-school programs for youth.
4. Fight to gain more state aid for Bridgeport Public Schools and promise to never take funds or services away from our school system.
5. Create more job opportunities for recent high school and college graduates and more summer job opportunities for high school students.
6. I will never seek to deprive or limit school voting rights of parents and families who should elect their education officials.
Where was Ganim four years ago when Finch attempted his school board takeover? He certainly was not at Foster’s side when she was helping lead the charge against the takeover.
Nobody knows any of the candidates running for the Board of Ed. No voters can name any people on the Board of Ed. I supported the mayor’s attempt to stop the insanity of a failing school system under different members of a Board of Ed. I do not think the mayor was taking away the democratic process. I believe the mayor realized things needed to change and he was bold.
We need more magnet schools and charter schools. Parents need choice. Bill Finch is the clear choice.
If I were on the other side of the fence, where was Ganim four years ago? Then again, where was Foster four years ago? She sort of disappeared and reappeared to run for Mayor.
Steve, please get off your knees.
What a suck-up!
Andy, Jim Fox, is there anything I said that was not real? Did I insult you guys?
Rudeness is a a weak person’s imitation of strength.
The only problem with my post is neither Mary-Jane Foster nor Joe Ganim can tout any of these amazing positives for our great city. Bill Finch can and so can I!
Steve Auerbach–you crack me up! Thanks for the comic relief! Intentional or not.
Back in 2011 Steve Auerbach allegedly “supported” the campaign of Mary-Jane Foster. This time around he’s blowing a horn (or an “organ”) for Finch. From what my contacts in the Foster campaign have told me, Mr. Auerbach’s “support” was not welcome four years ago, they respect his right to choose another candidate and are overjoyed he is “supporting” the lame duck.
Derek Brown,
We know you think you are popular on this blog, but honestly your nonsensical comments are rather annoying. In 2011 I supported Foster, in fact they moved their campaign headquarters twice to get me off their radar.
I know you like me Kid, you will do anything to get my attention. Now what???
Dear Steven,
I AM way more popular on this blog than you. If the comments of other posters is any indication, the common perception is you are not of sound mind. You behave like a spoiled mama’s boy, attacking everyone who does not agree with the pep rally “rah rah” cheerleader position you take regarding Billy Finch. (Tell us, Steve: do you spit or swallow?)
Foster’s team relocated campaign headquarters twice and didn’t tell you? Most people would get the message. Heard the Finch campaign did the same thing, moving without telling you. Mercy me, why would anyone not want to associate with a loudmouthed gas bag like you? It isn’t as if you have anything constructive to contribute.
My postings may be dry, they may be long, but they are not uninteresting. Every day strangers approach to ask “Are you The Bridgeport Kid?”
“Yes I am.”
“I love your writing!”
“Thank you, glad you enjoy it.”
“Keep doing what you’re doing. By the way, who is that obnoxious creep named Steven Auerbach? He is a jerk.”
Bridgeport Kid, you are a celebrity. Nobody ever acknowledges me. How great it is to be you.
Mayor Finch tried to move his campaign twice and Adam wood has a poster of me hanging at the Annex so I can’t enter. It doesn’t bother me. I love your writing. Like your fan club, I love your ability to compare respectable human beings to fecal matter. Your total disrespect for me, the mayor and all his supporters is just fantastic. You inspire me to continue making the mayor’s life miserable by supporting him every step of the way. If they move their headquarters one more time, I know there is a place for me at Joe Ganim’s. Bridgeport Kid, seriously, how great is it to be you? I cannot even imagine what it would be like to have friends like Jim Fox.
I am truly happy for you as I go on my way by myself as a loner. My cup runneth over with joy for you and I am happy your lame comments about me give you joy. How many times Kid have we had this redundant conversation? Every time I run into people, they try to run the other way. I realize I have no redeeming qualities. Perhaps Kid you can show a little compassion. Without this blog I have nothing. My life is sad. When you write about your optimistic hopes for the city I get chills, they’re multiplying. The city is so much better off with your commentary; me, not so much.
Steve, please. I’m willing to give you a pass on a lot of other things you say I don’t agree with, but you have crossed the line on this one. Finch wanted to take voting rights away for voting for BOE, it’s just that simple but you don’t believe that. Steve, you truly have a problem.
Ron Mackey, try to follow. First, keep in mind I had no problem with the mayor’s effort.
Of all the voters in the city of Bridgeport, I would comfortably say 90 percent have no clue whom they are voting for. That would be like asking all the residents to vote on the budget. If they do not understand it, why bother. It is every parent in every school in every neighborhood in the city. They just are not aware. Second, I do support charter schools and more magnet schools and most important I support a parent who has a child in the Bridgeport School system to take charge of their child’s education. Do not hate me because I do not agree with Maria Pereira, Foster or Ganim.
I have no problem with Finch trying to improve the school system. I do not believe in any way shape or form he was attempting a dictatorship overthrow of government. Our school system has sucked for decades. Ask Joe Ganim–ask what the board of Education thought about Ganim when he was in office for 12 years! I think a professional body of people is more impressive than a joe average citizen making important decisions that have kept our students pretty much at the lower end of the spectrum in every way. Finch has given us new schools and had made an attempt to improve it further with Vallas. I respected Vallas, everyone else turned him into a political situation. I think our very thoughtful watchdog, John Marshall Lee believed in Vallas. Ron, I appreciate your support of Foster’s stand. Now you know where I stand. I wouldn’t ask an uninformed 3rd grader to plan a dinner for dignitaries and I wouldn’t ask a group of potluck elected officials who were chosen by 1 percent of the informed population to make important decisions. Plus I’d make a simple suggestion. Anyone running for the board should have a complete background check. So Ron there you have it. And by the way, Public opinion in Bridgeport has changed drastically on the support of charter schools. I suppose if you had a child in an underperforming school you would feel differently about a Charter school if your child was number 188 in the Magnet lottery. We need more magnet schools and until we do, I would support a parent’s right to go to a Charter school. I could care less about voting for the Board and I echo the opinion of over 90 percent of the registered voters.
So in your opinion 90% of the voters in Bridgeport are just sheep voting for whomever they are told to vote for? That’s just great. Now I know why the Finch campaign hasn’t told you to bugger off. You’re just as much a bigot and a racist as he is.
Bridgeport Kid, where does bigot or racist come into play? Is that your alcohol talking? Do you have any clue how you sound like an idiot after your seventh drink? Are you at Danny Roach’s bar now? Where is Peter Spain? And he comes to Halstead’s defense? Exactly!
Bridgeport Kid, if you cannot be civil with me I will wipe the floor with you and give you comments equal to your vicious and unwarranted comments to me. Because I like to be fair!
I don’t drink, Porky. I live a healthy lifestyle, eat well and walk 8-10 miles a day. If you don’t like hearing the truth you can always leave, delete your account and register with the Tea Party. There’s plenty of room under that big tent. You’d be in great company with all the other angry old white men. By the way, Donald Trump needs a point man to work the barrio, a blowhard to explain why he wants to build a wall on the northern bank of the Rio Grande River. You can use your persuasive charm to explain why The Donald thinks Mexican immigrants are rapists and murderers.
Ever notice Steve Auerbach looks like Porky Pig, with glasses and an ugly beard?
Thank you, Kid. I know the other bloggers are pissing in their pants because they actually find your bipolar, Jekyll and Hyde comments hysterical. I know everyone finds your comments hysterical. You are a mean drunk and I find it offensive.
As I said before, I do not drink.
Get over yourself, Stevie. “Mop the floor” with me, eh? You need to have your medication adjusted. The Xanax isn’t working very well.
Who said MJF led the charge? You, who are too afraid to put your name on what you write? Judge Carmen Lopez of Black Rock was way ahead of MJF and she obviously didn’t do it to created name recognition and connections in order to run for office in the future. Sorry for coming on your back again Bridgeport.
The board was controlled by Finch and his cohorts on the board but he wanted total control under the mayor’s office, which was soundly defeated by the voters. The school system has not changed or improved in 100 years, we still have a dropout rate of over 50%.
Thank you, Andy. The mayor had total control of the BOE with a 6 to 3 margin for anything he wanted but no, that was not good enough for him because he didn’t like what three BOE members were saying. Steve is so out of it, from now on I can’t believe anything he writes if he doesn’t believe Finch wanted the total takeover of the BOE.
Ron, it is okay you do not believe everything or anything I write. I only give my opinion. If the school system sucks and the mayor is attempting to make bold moves to improve it, don’t focus on one little point.
Steve, what bold move? Mayor Finch has had control of the BOE the entire time he has been in office so what bold move has he made with the BOE? Remember, he has always had a 6 to 3 vote advantage so Steve, what’s the problem?
Have you counted recently, Ron? Now, with Maria’s help, he has a 7-2 margin in his favor.
IT DOESN’T HELP THE ARCHITECTURE OF THESE “NEW” SCHOOLS OR EVEN ALL THE SCHOOLS IN BRIDGEPORT RESEMBLE PLACES OF CONFINEMENT AND NOT HIGHER LEARNING.
Hector, you do not like the look of Roosevelt School and the ballfields? How about the beautiful improvements to Central High? Is there anything in the city you find attractive?
Steve, yes, the people, the different cultures all living and hoping, praying for a better future. Roosevelt does resemble a low-level penitentiary with track and field. I urge you to take a short ride into some of the towns in Fairfield County and observe what “style” of architecture they are using in their new schools. You’ll notice they are of a more inviting, refreshing type. As an educator, in your travels have you never noticed the buildings are even painted in happy colors as opposed to the light grays and tans you find in our system?
Haven’t you thought to yourself at some time “Damn, this is what we need to do in Bridgeport.”?
This is pathetic. Joe, where in hell were you on the failed takeover of the BOE and the charter revision??? In Easton eating foie gras with daddy? Your attempts at trying to sound genuine are so hackneyed.
If you cared about Bridgeport you would have moved here in 2010, not in 2015 when you needed a job.
Frank the Cabana Boy, you are so on the money!
Amen amen.
Hey Frank, Ganim was broke when he got out. Was he supposed to apply for welfare and move to the projects here? Maybe if you had shared your little boy room with him he would have moved to BPT, assuming you do live here yourself. If you won’t share your true ID, how the fuck would we know if you live here in Bridgeport? Come back with a reply when you grow up to be a man.
Joel Gonzalez, AKA salty Ganim supporter, I’ve been in Bridgeport my whole life. The Ganim family is worth tens of millions, I’m sure they didn’t have a problem helping baby Joe when he lost the orange onesie.
Tom Mulligan testified before the state BOE and claimed to be the Finch expert on the BBOE, after sitting on the BBOE for just two months.
Tom’s testimony was likened to McCarthyism, the practice of making accusations of subversion on the BBOE without proper regard for evidence.
This is how Finch operates, take away your right to vote and fluck democracy! Mr. Finch defended his actions by claiming “Democracy doesn’t work … in all cases” because so many of the parents of Bridgeport’s school children are illegal immigrants or criminals.
The person who has worked in Education for years is Mary-Jane Foster. She is the one person who can turn around a failing system. Ganim had 10 years and could not do it and Finch has had seven years and he has not done it. These two have had a total of 17 years to improve the educational system here in Bpt and they have not done it. Remember, even with all the new schools we are failing our kids.
Andy, maybe the answer is Maria Pereira!!!
She had her chance.
All this and Ganim is still going to lower taxes. The teachers are already the highest-paid and largest union in the city. Very few of whom live in BPT because they would not raise their kids in a city with an educational system like BPT’s. The BOE is more than 1/2 the city budget and Ganim is going to increase it and still lower taxes? You do not have to have a JML accounting degree to see a problem with this.
Does this mean Ganim will let a parent who has a kid in a BOE school and one in a charter school be a PAC leader? Calling Maria Pereira.
How soon they forget. When he was mayor Joe Ganim proposed giving the mayor the power to: appoint members of the Board of Education. Bet you won’t hear them talking about that one.