http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Chion/do%20111026%20Bridgeport%20Supreme%20CT.mp3
The Connecticut Supreme Court will hear arguments on Thursday challenging the state’s takeover of the Bridgeport Board of Education. The plaintiffs argue that the state cannot deny residents the right to vote for their local school board.
Last summer, most of the members of Bridgeport’s Board of Ed, along with the city’s superintendent and mayor asked the State Board to intervene in the city’s schools. Within weeks, Connecticut’s Acting Education Commissioner had replaced Bridgeport’s elected school board with a state-appointed panel.
"What’s at stake here is something fundamental. The people of Bridgeport thought they had a right to elect people for their school board. The state took it away."
Lawyer Norm Pattis represents two Bridgeport board of ed members who oppose the state takeover. They, along with parents of Bridgeport schoolchildren and candidates who’d hoped to run for seats on the board, filed suit against the State Board of Education.
Pattis says Thursday’s arguments before CT’s Supreme Court will make state constitutional history. "These are matters of first impression, meaning they’ve never come up before the court before. We’ll be urging the court to respect the vote. That’s what we think this case comes down to."
One in three elementary school students in Bridgeport met the goal in reading and math on the CT Mastery Test. The district has been designated “low achieving” for seven consecutive years .
