Bridgeport School Capital Improvements

How do we bridge the gap in education and the $709 million in repairs for the district that ranks 161 of 165?

Bridgeport estimates $709 million in capital improvement over the next decade. Bridgeport ranks 161 of the 165 school districts.

Bridgeport education needs an improvement as much if not more than its buildings (except those that are structurally unstable). Unfortunately, politics are to blame. The State of Connecticut and its democrat-controlled House, Senate and many other municipalities have failed and continue to fail our school children (See Article).

The proposed solution in that article was that competition, school choice and charter schools are the only ways to improve performance of poorly performing public education. While competition poses a threat to the encumbered teachers unions, it is time to prioritize the future human capital to our Constitution state over job-security.

At the same time, a recent survey by the CEA, the largest union that represents CT teachers, indicates that even teachers in the union are frustrated with politics and cite that as a major contributor to “burnout”.

The top five issues contributing to stress and burnout:

1. Challenges with student discipline/behavior

2. Insufficient pay

3. Lack of respect

4. Politicians and non-educators making decisions that affect classroom learning

5. Too many district initiatives

(Source - Connecticut Education Association)

National Education Changes Since November

Changes to education are forthcoming with the re-election of Donald J. Trump and Connecticut’s own Linda McMahon has been selected to head the Department of Education.

Source - America First Policy Institute

This selection of Ms. McMahon will bring national attention to Connecticut and to our public school system. Ms. McMahon was nominated for the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2009 and has frequently explained how education has been a passion of hers. In her confirmation hearing, McMahon noted that her corporate experience as the CEO of the WWE taught her "firsthand the skills Connecticut students need to obtain through education to be successful." She also spearheaded the WWE’s Get R.E.A.L. program, which used wrestling superstars in public service announcements to encourage literacy among young fans with its R.E.A.L. core of Respect, Education, Achievement and Leadership.

In previous political campaigns, Ms. McMahon’s campaign website highlighted "competition and choice through charter schools," "secondary school reform" and a strong belief in “local control”. She also expressed that she was “an advocate for choice through charter schools," which are all likely to be areas of focus at the Department of Education.

Back to Bridgeport - Where Does the $709 million in repairs go to?

1/3^rd of improvements are architectural in nature on the interior 1/4^th are mechanical and the remainder are for the building envelope, life-safety systems, plumbing and ADA compliance. For more specifics see here

In addition, there were previous proposals by the prior superintendent Carmela Levy-David for closures of 6 schools for unsafe building conditions and poor scholastic performance. Levy-David was previously in the news for the essential vote of no confidence by the teachers of Bridgeport (See here). However, 17 of the 30 K-8 schools, several high-schools and magnet schools are under capacity with declining enrollment predicted over the next 10 years. There are some schools that are busting at the seams (Bassick, Central and Harding) while the Bridgeport School District has almost a $40 million deficit.

Something is clearly off when one of CT’s largest cities which should have increasing population and enrollment is declining, especially given the historic demographics of Bridgeport.

Enrollment Down, Costs Increase

Across the state, school enrollment is down around 6 percent as compared to 10 years ago. (See data)

Factors may include residents having fewer children, an aging population and overall cost of living.

Separately, the number of Connecticut students with high needs and those with disabilities have increased over the last 10 years. In 2014-15, there were 13.32 percent, or 72,773, students with disabilities. In 2023-24, that number has jumped to 17.92 percent, or 91,847 students with disabilities.

Bridgeport Heavily State & Federally Funded

Unlike most cities and towns, Bridgeport receives 70.9 percent of school funding comes from the State, 19.2% is local (real-estate taxes) and 9.9 percent comes from the federal government. Bridgeport receives more state funding than most towns so our state legislators should have greater oversight over Bridgeport and any other school districts with the same spending breakdown to ensure a better outcome.

Connecticut is facing a host of education issues and deficits. Bridgeport spends nearly $2,600 less per student than the state average ($21,143). This may contribute to poor performance, but it is not the only issue as there are districts that spend less with higher performance.

Alternatives to Traditional High Schools - Technical Schooling

It is time Hartford and the local towns look to make a meaningful impact on education for a brighter future for all and shift focus to trade schools and STEM. Connecticut Technical Education and Career System (CTECS) is a statewide system of 17 diploma-granting technical high schools serving approximately 10,200 high school students.

Bridgeport has one CTECS - The Bullard-Havens Technical High School which rates in the top 4 of CTECS while it rates as 163 out of 198 CT High Schools and 32 out of 40 of the Bridgeport Schools (See data).

CT has a long way to improve its education system. Competition, training, better spending are critical to the future development of our future workforce.

Banksy in Bridgeport

It is fitting that the Banksy Graffiti on a building in the South Bronx came to Bridgeport. The building that housed this graffiti in the Bronx was demolished to make way for a Charter School.

Photo by Jonathan Goldstein

Maybe this installation that is now in Bridgeport will serve as an inspiration to make meaningful investments in Bridgeport education and throughout the state.

Thank you for your continued support. Please subscribe and spread the word.

Dr. Michael Goldstein & Jonathan Goldstein

The father-son team continues on so please spread the word and lets really rebuild CT together in a meaningful way.

For all demographic changes over the last decade – see the following article.