Vallas And Pryor, Finch And Malloy–Why Relationships Matter

Meeting governmental goals, policies and agendas require political friends in the right places, particularly in a city such as Bridgeport which doesn’t exactly have a reputation for a strong legislative delegation in Hartford to bring home the bacon. Love him or leave him (and he will be leaving soon to run for lieutenant governor in Illinois), in the two years he has led city schools Paul Vallas has leveraged his relationships in Hartford to bring back millions of dollars that has escaped the city in the past.

Moolah for school security, money for school construction, dough for technology in classrooms, and now, apparently, extra support to help the city meet the state-mandated Minimum Budget Requirement. Vallas was not in Bridgeport in the summer of 2011 when the Connecticut Board of Education validated the local school board’s request to assume control of beleaguered city schools that was eventually overturned by the Connecticut Supreme Court, the very court that also recently overturned a lower court’s ruling the national education reformer lacked the qualifications to lead city schools. Vallas was, however, lured to Bridgeport in late 2011 at the urging of the new State Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor who has backed Vallas with extra loot in an effort to turn around the state’s lowest-performing district, including additional support for the city to meet the state Minimum Budget Requirement.

For years, education advocates argued that mayors shortchanged city-side spending for a school district that receives roughly 80 percent of its allowance from the state. It’s the old argument, how much of a local tax hit do you want to take to fund schools? Conversely, education advocates argue that strong schools are an economic generator, invest in us.

Governor Dan Malloy and Mayor Bill Finch haven’t always been best of buds, but within the city’s effort to lobby more state support we’re seeing a symbiotic relationship developing between the two. Governors can make things happen for cities. Mayors can make things happen for a governor who’ll need the state’s largest city in his reelection effort in less than a year. When a governor wants to win reelection, when a mayor wants to do the same a year after, you help each other. It’s pragmatic politics.

Ben Barnes, the state budget director appointed by Malloy, had served as chief financial officer for Bridgeport schools so the financial condition of the district hardly escapes him. He knows the territory. Barnes and Pryor wrote a joint letter that outlined ways for the city to meet the Minimum Budget Requirement.

Soon Vallas will be gone and the newly seated local school board will select a replacement. Will they factor in relationships in Hartford?