New charter seats will strip Bridgeport Public Schools of resources
A high school classroom in Bridgeport.
— Ann Policelli Cronin – CT Mirror ViewPoints —
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.
The new seats will cost the beleaguered and impoverished Bridgeport Public Schools money it doesn’t have to spend and will strip them of much needed resources. The Bridgeport Board of Education unanimously voted against charter expansion because the cost of adding grades requires the Bridgeport Public Schools to pay for transportation and other services at an additional location.
