RSSEMERGENCY NEWS FLASH: Legislature Voting on $3.5 Million Loan to Bridgeport/Collateral is Ed. Comm. picks superintendent.
Jun 12
Bridgeport, Education Reform, Malloy, Stefan Pryor 16 Comments
You read it right…
The Connecticut Legislature is voting to give Bridgeport a $3.5 million loan but the “collateral” is Commissioner Pryor gets to pick their superintendents.
At this moment, the Connecticut House of Representatives is debating H.B. 6001, AN ACT IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS OF THE STATE BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING JULY 1, 2012.
Hidden at the very end of the bill is one of most incredible provisions I’ve ever seen.
Section 292 of the 297 section bill “loans” the City of Bridgeport $3,500,000 to cover their budget deficit this year and takes the money from funds that had been set aside to fund schools in other parts of Connecticut. The only requirement is that the Governor Malloy’s Education Commissioner, Stefan Pryor, gets to choose Bridgeport’s superintendent.
The language authorizes the Commissioner of Education to “provide a loan of up to three million five hundred thousand dollars to the city of Bridgeport for the purposes of inclusion in the budgeted appropriation of education for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, to cover education expenditures incurred during such fiscal year.”
The bill goes on to read that “As a condition of making such loan under this section, the commissioner (1) shall require the selection of a superintendent of schools or chief financial officer of the Bridgeport school district from a pool of up to three candidates approved by the commissioner, and (2) may require additional process or outcome targets and objectives to be included in the alliance district plan submitted by the board of education pursuant to section 34 of public act 12-116. The city of Bridgeport shall repay such loan not later than June 30, 2015.
An unelected political appointee with NO REAL EDUCATION EXPERIENCE will give the Bridgeport Board of Education a list of three people and the Board MUST pick from one of those names.
Not only is it an incredible abuse of power, but it is a blatant attempt to prevent a democratically elected board of education from taking office and serving the people who elected them.
And you know who Commissioner Pryor will pick.
Take a look at this. The conservative, right-wing Broad Foundation, one of the nation’s leading “education reform” entities runs an education program to train superintendents. When they complete the program, the Broad Foundation then works to place these trainees around the country. As the website reveals, the individuals and organizations that have agreed to help place these people include Stefan Pryor and Dacia Toll (the Executive Director of Achievement First. http://forms.broadresidency.org/sf/sf-1.php and http://forms.broadresidency.org/sf/
Here is a link to the Members of the House and Senate.
http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/hlist.asp and http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/slist.asp
The Legislators are there now. They will be voting on this bill tonight.
Most check their email. Some check their phone messages
Email or call and tell them to Delete section 292 and stop the incredible violation of Democratic Values.
