Ann Cronin taught English for many years in Connecticut, which has one of the most successful state school systems in the nation. However, Connecticut has several districts where people live in dire poverty. Under the administration of Governor Dannel Malloy, the answer to the children in these poor and under-resourced districts is privately managed charter schools– contractor schools. Malloy, needless to say, relies on hedge fund managers for campaign funding, and he is putty in their hands.
Cronin writes here that “Something is Rotten in the State of Connecticut.”
The State Board of Education just approved additional seats for Steve Perry’s Capitol Prep Harbor School, a charter school that drains resources from the Bridgeport public schools. Perry is the self-styled celebrity who once referred to teachers’ union members as “cockroaches” and on another occasion threatened a physical confrontation with critics.
Cronin writes:
“On July 19, 2017, the unelected, governor-appointed Connecticut State Board of Education approved 504 additional seats in state charter schools for next year, with 154 of those seats going to Capital Preparatory Harbor School in Bridgeport.
“GO FIGURE:
“Connecticut is in a budget crisis with every expense being monitored, yet new charter school seats, which cost the state $11,000 each, are being initiated. The cost will be more than $5.5 million.
“PLUS
“The new seats will cost the beleaguered and impoverished Bridgeport Public Schools money it cannot afford and will strip them of much needed resources. The Bridgeport Board of Education unanimously voted against the expansion plan because the cost of adding grades to Capital Prep Harbor School requires the Bridgeport Public Schools to pay additional costs for transportation and other services at an additional location.
“PLUS
“The expansion plan for Capital Prep Harbor School, approved by the State Board of Education in 2014, called for three grades to be added in 2017-2018, but Capital Prep Harbor School requested and was granted the expansion to six new grades, which increased the costs of services from Bridgeport Public Schools from $200,000 to $400,000 for 2017-2018.
“PLUS
“Capital Prep Harbor School does not serve the population of Bridgeport equitably. Based on the make-up of the community, nearly half of the students at Capital Prep Harbor should be Hispanic, but only 1/5 are, and Capital Prep Harbor has zero students who have English as their second language although there are ample children in Bridgeport who have English as their second language.
“PLUS
“Capital Prep Harbor School was approved by the State Board of Education in April 2014 as a school with its stated mission to serve the “diverse communities of Bridgeport and surrounding communities”. Capital Prep Harbor School has failed to implement that mission because of its small percentage of Hispanic students and its total lack of students with English as their second language.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Connecticut is a country club state run by and for the rich.
Malloy like Cuomo is a puppet for the hedge funds so his decisions show bias and partiality to the charter lobby. In this case there are no compelling academic reasons since “a report commissioned by the Connecticut State Department of Education entitled Evaluating the Academic Performance of Choice Programs in Connecticut compared student achievement in public schools, charter schools, magnet schools, and among those students bussed from urban areas to the suburbs and did not find evidence that students in charter schools had greater achievement than other students, even with their more select student body.” Malloy is formulating policies that his hedge fund puppet masters want regardless of the harmful impact of underfunded public schools.
It’s not just Malloy who is owned by the banks hedge funds and insurance companies.
It’s the whole state, including the national Representatives and Senators.
It’s virtually impossible to join the Club if you are not already a member. Jonathan Pelto tried in the last governor’s race and “Democratic” rep Rosa DeLauro asked him to leave the premises. Of course she said “please”. 🙂
Thanks for running this Diane. We are in such trouble here in CT. We are the silent drowning state.
“Steve Perry … once referred to teachers’ union members as ‘cockroaches’ and on another occasion threatened a physical confrontation with critics.”
:o)
I’d welcome that physical confrontation as long as I can bring armed support to watch my back. I’m one of those ‘cockroaches’, and I’m also a former U.S. Marine and combat vet. Even at almost 72, I’m eager to take on someone like Steve Perry even if he ends up beating me senseless, but I must warn him, the Marines did not train me to fight fair. The Marines trained us to win in a combat situation. We don’t wear gloves or fight by rules even when there are rules.
Simply changing the name of a school to one who is better at sneaking and conniving is not going to accomplish anything. It’s time to turn traditional public schools loose and allow them to do their jobs. Smaller class sizes, planning time and innovation will be better, in the long run, than deception.
Since that is not likely to happen soon, it’s time for teachers to take back their classes and subvert the system in the best interest of children. We must protect kids from the monsters, ogres and agenda driven politicians that place their own power ego and control over the agenda of children.
This can be done but it will be dangerous. Put on your trench coat, pull your fedora over one eye and hide in the shadows while you secretly meet with teachers of kindred minds, and re plan your school. Don’t wait for permission.
First 2 cites from Hartford-Courant 7/19 (“State approves 504 new slots…”)
[local Board of Ed vote] “Aresta L. Johnson, superintendent of Bridgeport Public Schools, told the state board the local Bridgeport Board of Education voted unanimously against the plan to expand seats for Capital Prep because of concern that it will further financially-burden the already struggling district… Johnson said the district is “grossly under-funded” and estimated the cost to the school system of adding the lower grades to Capital Prep would be $200,000 [research suggests that’s mostly busing costs for several new grades]”
[State Board of Ed vote] “The vote on the plan was six to two, with board members William Davenport and Erin Benham voting against it. ‘I’m very uncomfortable moving forward with the budget situation,’ Davenport said, noting Connecticut was in a different place financially three years ago when plans were made for Capital Prep Harbor to eventually have students in kindergarten through grade 12.”
[Approval] Per Cronin’s article posted by Diane ““On July 19, 2017, the unelected, governor-appointed Connecticut State Board of Education approved 504 additional seats in state charter schools for next year, with 154 of those seats going to Capital Preparatory Harbor School in Bridgeport.”
[Spin?] (again from Hartford-Courant article:) “Commissioner Dianna Wentzell said after the meeting it appeared that many of those opposing the expansion plan did not understand the decision to add elementary grades to Capital Prep Harbor was made three years ago as part of the school’s charter plan [see Davenport quote above!]. She said Gov. Dannel Malloy has included funds in his latest revised budget for the additional 154 slots, which cost $11,000 per seat.” (This does not necessarily counter local dist supt’s point that the add’l grades for the Bridgeport charter doubles the district’s already 200k transp cost for current charter enrollment– sounds like that cost is in addn to the 11k per add’l student covered by state… & Bridgeport district’s budget has been cut in the interim.)
Democracy at work? Sources such as http://ctschoolfinance.org/assets/uploads/files/Bridgeport-FAQs.pdf suggest that while Bridgeport local taxpayers can afford only 21% of per-pupil cost [Hartford 22%, New Haven 25%, other major cities 36-94%], state funding formula does not make up the diff by any means [Bridgeport getting 21% less than owed per state-funding formula, citing a 600million shortfall in state ed budget].
So this is not, e.g., NJ, where state picks up the lion’s share of greater inner-city per-pupil costs by reducing state aid to wealthy districts w/their lower per-pupil costs & thus has at least a theoretical leg to stand on when dictating charter caps/expansions– no. This is a state which renegues on its ‘fair-funding formula’, & even has an unfunded mandate for local district to pay transport to charters– & still overrides the local BOEd on charter expansion, pushing addl unfunded transp costs on locals while simultaneously cutting their state aid annually.
A cardinal example of sham local control– locally-elected BOEd decisions easily overridden by state BOEd even tho state is not picking up the extra cost to district.