Some residents were outraged by the Bridgeport school board's split decision this week to ask the State Board of Education to take over the city's failing school system and appoint a new local school board.
"My rights as a registered voter are being taken away," complained one opponent. Another said, "This is about disenfranchising voters in Bridgeport."
Sorry, folks. This is about kids who need a better education.
The state board could muster only a 5-4 vote to accept the challenge of turning around the deeply troubled system and its 20,000 students, but there was no good alternative to state involvement.
At least with the state takeover there will be movement — and change in Bridgeport is essential.
The dysfunctional school board is so hopelessly divided that it couldn't even pass a budget for the fiscal year that began last week.
Members argue about everything and little gets done.
Said board President Barbara P. Bellinger, "We have not proven ourselves able to properly and effectively oversee the superintendent or the school system."
The district's problems mirror those of other urban school systems — abysmal graduation rates, low test scores, insufficient resources.
State takeovers don't always work. But one did to an extent in Hartford starting in 1997. A state-appointed board got the district back on its feet. Real improvement and climbing test scores, though, came during the five-year reign of recently departed reform-minded Superintendent Steven Adamowski, who is soon to become a state-appointed "special master" supervising the struggling schools in Windham.
A state takeover is no substitute for strong, committed local leadership, greater, positive parental involvement and more resources.
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