Sherry Takahashi is a Weston resident. She spent 22 years as a Bridgeport teacher, first in special education and then as a district-wide literacy coach.
The other day, a friend sent her an “06880” story on our town’s proposed 2025-26 Board of Education budget. Sherry writes:
Did you know that Bridgeport’s Board of Education began the year with a $36 million deficit?
They had to cut 40 positions — reading and math coordinators included. They are also missing teachers for 28 classroom positions, and filling them with temps.
Sherry Takahashi
Also, the superintendent said that any special needs student who had been out- placed would be brought back into the district. That is every teacher’s favorite cost-saving strategy: having a severely disabled child placed into an already crowded classroom.
I went to help a friend set up her classroom in a local suburban town. She is a newly hired 4th grade teacher. I was taken aback by all of the new materials that arrived, clean and shrink-wrapped, that we unpacked.
She has 17 students,compared to the 29 that is Bridgeport’s max.
The disparity was eye-opening. I remember as a teacher scouring basements of old school buildings for displaced materials, and writing multiple grants for
essential items like pocket charts, whiteboards and manipulatives.
Every teacher in Bridgeport looks forward to the annual Pequot Library sale, where they were entitled to a $100 voucher to purchase used books for their classroom.
My friends who are still teaching and I are on a thread, so I get up-to-date information on life in urban education.
Our bond outlasts our time together, teaching under tough circumstances but
confident we had each other’s backs.
One time I forgot to bring a student to a district spelling bee. My colleague seamlessly covered for me. She told the parent her child wasn’t dressed
appropriately, and that was the end of it.
If it had happened in another setting, it probably would have gone viral.
Thinking back, I believe our strongest resource in Bridgeport was each other.
Westport teachers have every material resource. The community expects a blue ribbon education, and Westport’s Board of Education delivers.
As a result real estate values stay high, property taxes respond accordingly, the schools are fully funded and everyone is happy.
Bridgeport relies heavily on state and federal subsidies. Those have steadily eroded over the years.
I can’t really compare the systems dollar for dollar. I’m glad my kids had the benefit of suburban education, so the money the town sinks into the budget is worth it.
For equity’s sake I wish there were county budgets rather than town budgets. I don’t find de facto segregation that democratic.
Sometimes I run into former students working in service industry jobs, which is about the best they can expect given their level of education.
When Governor Lamont tried to suggest that smaller towns combine to save on administrative costs, the towns vehemently resisted because everyone is happy with the status quo.
So the class system is maintained. And now Elon Musk sits next to our next
president.
(Hat tip: Mark Yurkiw)
When I retired, I became a substitute teacher in the Palm Beach County School system. That would be like making one school system from Bridgeport to Greenwich. In Maryland, my grandkids attend school in the Howard County School District. The poorer towns and the richer towns are all in the same school system. Obviously Westport residents wouldn’t want that, but Bridgeport residents would love to be a part of a regional school district. There are pros and cons to each type of educational system.
First he’s not my president! Second having someone like musk, an unelected egomaniac telling Trump what to do is not laughable but dangerous. Taking over Panama and Greenland, an example of his insanity.
Musk is a dangerous genius
With a 49% graduation rate, B’port teens are bound to fill many “service” jobs…the school system is rated next to last in the CT system. Many “underfunded” school systems send kids on to college and to do well as adults. Let us not guilt the successful school communities with the failures of Bridgeport.
What percent of Bridgeport schools speak English ? What affect does immigration have on urban schools ?
There are well-funded school districts with abysmal literacy rates (Baltimore often cited as example).
It’s easy to focus only on funding, and shift the blame on the rich, Musk, inequity and whatever.
How about focusing on improving outcomes for any given level of funding? That truly requires a commitment from administrators to fix problems and families to do their part.
Part of the problems with Bridgeport go back to Jasper McLeavy(sp?), a long time mayor there. Though he was a member of the Socialist Workers Party, he became popular for keeping taxes low–and disinvesting in the city. New schools weren’t built and the existing ones deteriorated. His response to plowing streets: “God put the snow there. We’ll wait for him to take it away.” Cities, like homes, need investment, and he didn’t do it. The city has been paying for it ever since.
He did practice what he preached. His clothing was always wrinkled and in need of cleaning. The only time he was ever seen in a pressed suit was when he was buried.
My first teaching job was the 1969-1970 school year. The last substitute job I had was in 2012. That means I was in the classroom as a teacher for a part of 6 decades. Obviously, I was a teacher in the 1960s for only four months, but it counts as one of the decades I taught in.
Hear hear, Sherry Takahashi! Thank you. It may not change anything now but it needed to be said, and said so well.
Linda McMahon is Trumps choice for education secretary.
I guess Bozo the clown wasn’t available.
Westport should take over Bridgeport. Then Dan (Woog, not Katz) can take over the CT Post and fix that too. Bridgeport has plenty of parking spots open so that fixes the parking problems for the new combined entity that should be called Westbridge.
This works out to be $27911 per child, or about 50% of Greens Farms high school.
What that says I don’t know other than to make Westport a relative bargain for families with multiple kids to educate.
What’s missing is the recognition that improving Bridgeport education along with other comparable areas will benefit everyone in the state. These students will build a stronger workforce, earn more money, pay more taxes, encourage innovation, etc., and CT would be the beneficiary. Whereas spending more money in Westport will have only a marginal impact given the existing high level of performance. It is simply lack of will stopping us from improving the situation.
I spent my time on a plane ride from California to Conn. explaining to my seat mate ‘What’s so great about Connecticut”: Conn.’s public schools excelled at educating students.
During WWI and WWII, Conn. high school graduates were well equipped with reading and math skills to enter jobs for men and women in local industries, making products that were sold all over the world.
Bridgeport had 500 factories in the early 20th century (the Bridgeport radio station’s call letters WICC stand for Industrial Capital of Conn) because of its proximity to financial and marketing channels in NYC, excellent transportation by rail and water, and skilled industrial workers.
Bridgeport became a Gritty City when its economic triumph became its downfall after WWII.
Bridgeport was a magnet for job seekers and thousands lost jobs when government contracts dried up, companies went out of business, went south, moved overseas, were acquired and the operation moved elsewhere. Including Bullard’s (1879), the largest machine tool company in the country, Warner Brothers (1876), an undergarment manufacturer that made parachutes during WWII, Bridgeport Brass Company (1865), spun wire for the first telephone line from NYC to Boston, Remington Arms (1867), manufactured munitions.
Westport wisely stipulated financial support for community social service projects when Stauffer Chemical Comapany sought to buy the Nyala Farms property and establish its headquarters there. Could Bridgeport afford to follow Westport’s example?
Jeanne Reed
Jeanne Reed is spot on. My mother worked for Igor Sikorsky in the 1940s. Singer Sowing Machine Company was also in Bridgeport. There was Carpenter Steal too. Shopping at Reads in Bridgeport in the 1950s was a treat! P.T Barnum was in Bridgeport it was a great city at one point!
Oops.. Carpenter STEEL
Thank you, Jack, P.T. Barnum and those Bridgeport industrialists are buried in grand monumental style in a F.L. Olmsted cemetery, Mountain Grove, one of the three Olmsted parks in Bridgeport.
Hi Sherry,
I have a supply of illustrated children’s books (four self-published titles) that I would be happy to donate to Bridgeport schools. In the past I’ve brought the books to NYC public school classes, first through fourth grades. If you’d like to review them to decide if they would be suitable for donation, I’d be happy to deliver them. Please contact me at the email address I’ve supplied to 06880.
Education has as much to do with family structure & emphasis as in-classroom – unfair to compare Westport & Bridgeport with that in mind. Bridgeport’s educational funding WOULD be better if property values were higher which, in turn, starts with improving Bridgeport’s safety (less crime) and real estate investment. Nicer cities, better homes, infrastructure, a few “go to destinations” creates an appeal for new residents, etc. THAT improves the tax basis which then must be directed toward schools. Need LOCAL political leaders with vision and will to get things started. Tough sledding in a one-party state where status quo is embraced by most voters.
Until Bridgeporters stop re-electing Ganim nothing will improve.
John Gomes was not the answer. There was a great candidate in Lamond Daniels who hopefully will be in the mix in 4 years.
Where did you get the impression that life is fair? Most of the school kids here won the “sperm lottery” and hopefully, realize it. I taught in the inner city of Houston for a brief 2 years after the law, 4 out of 10 could not read by reaching high school. It is what it is and with 90% of the country’s wealth owned by 10% of the population, it ain’t gonna change.
It is not only an academic gap
. Look at the playing fields. It is shameful that kids who come from challenged financial issues don’t get a chance to enjoy school sports on fields that are on a par with surrounding towns.
Solutions to creating equal educational opportunities in all aspects of public education need to be addressed as a priority if we want Democracy to have a future. All of Connecticut children should have equal access to excellence in public school.
Sandy, I couldn’t agree more with you on “equal access to excellence in public education.”
How do we get there?
Covid has widened the gap between the “haves and have nots” beyond what anyone could’ve imagined.
The Westport starter home that once was, are now signs of “Demolition” all over the place.
The new Westport resident comes in with incredible expectations of Westport and our Board of Education.
We are the New York Yankees, Mets, and LA Dodgers, we continue to pay, grow our budget because we can.
The fact we have a shortage of teachers and educators in CT. Along with zero ability to question line items in education budgets, makes for a perfect storm of unsustainable education budget increases for Westport and peer school districts.
Within our own town, we have a huge “in equality” spending just between the town side of our budget and school side.
Perhaps the state needs to look at “regionalization of resources” when it comes to public education.
I do think we have the money, and resources in our state to provide a quality, and equality educational opportunity for all our kids, regardless of town or city.
The business model that has been used for years in our state education as it relates to our towns and cities, needs to change, as our world has changed since Covid.
Just my two cents…
Jimmy, Read my comment at 5:37 am.
We should be asking why the state of CT has done little or nothing to correct the inequities in funding of public education which were noted by our Supreme Court in several decisions beginning with Horton v Board of Education.
Yes, Connecticut’s constitution requires “a substantially equal educational opportunity to its youth”. There is a model for demanding that the state do something to correct educational inequalities.
The state intervened in school districts in Cleveland, Baltimore, and Chicago in the 1990s and the cities accepted some state control in return for increased funding.
Law suits in those cases focused on spending disparity among school districts, funding (a crippling budget deficit), management vacuum, and special education services. The ACL cited state constitutions that required “thorough and efficient” education.
Desegregation is a factor often cited in court cases demanding state intervention in school districts. Connecticut is the state with the highest rate of segregation – race, ethnicity, income inequality – in the country. School budgets are supported by property taxes. Bridgeport’s property taxes are high and are often defaulted. Connecticut’s effort to equalize educational opportunities for all its children is to move low-income residents from low performing city schools to towns with high performing school districts (Affordable Housing Statute 8-30g).