A mayoral-appointed board raises the specter of cronyism. To combat this perception, Bridgeport's Charter Revision Commission created what was to be called a Candidate Qualifications Board, a panel of educational stakeholders that would need to approve any choices. This was to be the bulwark against pure politicization, and was a major selling point in the commission's efforts.
As of May 24, the proposed new charter read: "There shall be a Candidate Qualifications Board composed of five (5) members whose sole function shall be to evaluate and certify the Mayor's prospective appointees to the Board of Education."
Except now it won't. The name of the new panel has been changed to Advisory Council, and it's not just semantics. A note on the final version of the new charter approved by the City Council, dated July 23, reads: "It was determined that the role of the Board was purely advisory to the Mayor and thus would be an advisory council to the Mayor. However, the findings of the Council with regard to candidates formally nominated for the Board of Education would be subject to review by the City Council."
So instead of a Qualifications Board specifically designed to approve or turn down prospective school board candidates -- to keep the politics out of it, which everyone swears is the ultimate goal -- it will be up to the mayor and City Council alone.
This is a bad idea, for a simple reason. Even if you trust this mayor, and think he nothing but the best intentions for the schools, he won't be mayor forever.
Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Hugh-Bailey-So-much-for-keeping-politics-out-of-3779619.php#ixzz23bZLFV2d
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