Leave school board in hands of the citizens
Published 4:49 pm, Friday, November 2, 2012
On Tuesday, Bridgeport citizens will decide a charter revision question relating to the public school system. A "yes" vote will give the mayor the power to appoint members of the school board. A "no" vote lets citizens of Bridgeport continue to elect board members. Proponents of a "yes" vote believe an appointed school board is the only way to achieve better educational outcomes in Bridgeport. For at least the reasons outlined below, we respectfully disagree.
First, the achievement gap that exists between Bridgeport children and their counterparts in the affluent towns of Fairfield County is caused by a resource gap. If Bridgeport citizens and other stakeholders want better educational outcomes then this resource gap needs to be addressed. This gap manifests itself before the first day of kindergarten. Unlike their contemporaries from Westport, Darien, Easton, Fairfield, New Canaan or Greenwich, most children in Bridgeport do not have access to a quality early-childhood education.
Why? Their parents do not have the same level of financial resources and political influence. The negative impacts caused by these resource gaps are exacerbated once Bridgeport children begin their public school experience. More resources are allocated to the education of children in the affluent towns of Fairfield County, both before and after they start their public education.
Given the disparity that exists in terms of early childhood educational opportunities, more educational resources need to be allocated to Bridgeport's children and those additional resources need to be deployed wisely.
If we want to reduce the gap, then we need to ensure the following:
Longer class days and an extended school year.
Textbooks for home and the classroom.
Smaller class sizes.
Technological Resources (computer classes at all grade levels, computers, textbooks, etc..) that will insure the competitiveness of Bridgeport's students.
These changes will require more resources. For years, Bridgeport's financial contribution to educating its own students has been shameful. And, for years, Connecticut's educational cost sharing formula has led to underinvestment in Bridgeport children. We applaud Governor Malloy's focus on this problem, and hope that more resources are committed by the state and the city.
We also believe adults must be held accountable for doing their part to close the achievement gap, including: the board of education, the administration, teachers and parents.
Second, the population of Bridgeport is at least two-thirds African-American and Latino. Any action that seeks to disenfranchise people of color painfully reminds us of Jim Crow. We are African-American men who are children and products of the South: Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
We are old enough to have experienced firsthand the practice of Jim Crow. The fundamental essence and objective of Jim Crow was to deny black people the right to vote, along with other basic rights. African-Americans and their allies in the Civil Rights Movement were beaten, attacked by dogs and even killed for seeking the right to vote. So we are especially sensitive to any governmental or private action that results in people of color losing the right to vote.
Third, it has been argued that appointed school boards have worked well in Hartford and New Haven. Sadly, the only real diversity in Connecticut is in its urban centers: Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven. Most of Connecticut's towns, especially those in Fairfield County, are not at all diverse. And, all of the affluent towns in Fairfield County elect the members of their respective school boards. So, the clear and unambiguous implication is that the citizens of Bridgeport (along with those of Hartford and New Haven) are not sophisticated enough or knowledgeable enough to pick those individuals who will oversee the school system. That implication is one that we reject and find offensive.
Fourth, a central argument for an appointed school board is that the prior elected school board was "dysfunctional." We believe that this positioning of the prior elected school board as "dysfunctional" is misleading, flawed and fraudulent. There was no "super majority" requirement to decide any issue facing the elected board. There was a solid 6 to 3 majority on this board. There has never been a suggestion that the duly elected opposition members were acting out of self-interest or that they had any real or apparent conflict of interest. While we have disagreed with many of their tactics and areas of focus, they were elected by the Bridgeport citizenry and it appears their intentions were appropriate. Indeed, it appears that, rightly or wrongly, replacing the previous superintendent was one of their primary objectives. And, the state-appointed board's first official act was to replace the prior superintendent. So, it does a disservice to the integrity of the conversation about improving Bridgeport's schools to continue to describe the prior board as "dysfunctional."
Finally, voting `yes' is clearly the antithesis of democracy. Protecting and promoting democracy was the fundamental explanation for our country's involvement in Iraq. That involvement cost us trillions of dollars and the lives of thousands of young men and women If democracy is good for third-world countries like Iraq, we believe that it is good for Bridgeport.
We encourage the citizens of Bridgeport to vote `no' and retain your hard-fought right to vote. We also encourage citizens to demand that more resources be allocated to Bridgeport's children and that adults be held accountable for closing the achievement gap. Send a clear message on Tuesday.
Dr. Anthony L. Bennett,
Mt. Aery Baptist Church, Bridgeport
Peter F. Hurst, Jr.,
Wiley Mullins III,