School Board in Connecticut Gives Reins to Private Company

Over the protests of some teachers and parents, the school board voted Monday to put a private company in charge of its public school system, becoming the first city in the nation to do so.

The Hartford Board of Education voted, 6 to 3, to sign a five-year contract with Education Alternatives Inc., making the publicly held company responsible for the education of 25,000 schoolchildren in this city of about 140,000.

Hartford turned to privatization in desperation over high dropout rates, low test scores and deteriorating facilities at the district’s 32 schools.

A lawsuit by the Hartford Federation of Teachers to block the contract was dismissed last month. The American Federation of Teachers also opposed the deal and recommended a moratorium on contracts with Education Alternatives.

“What we’re going to have left is nothing for the children. You treat them like so much livestock,” said Steven Fournier, a parent who spoke at a raucous hearing before the vote. “This is an invitation to corruption.”

But Jane Carroll, a teacher and the wife of school board member Ted Carroll, argued that her “morale as a teacher will climb considerably when I have a copy machine to use, when I have paper that I don’t have to buy myself, when I have construction paper, when my child has a globe in her geography class.”

Education Alternatives manages 11 public schools in Baltimore; a public school in Miami Beach; a private school in Minnesota, and a private school in Arizona.

Never before has a private company managed an entire school district.

Under the contract, Education Alternatives essentially controls the school district’s $171.1-million budget, as well as $29 million in state and federal grants.

The company will pay all bills, purchase school supplies and have a key role in hiring and firing personnel, as well as conducting union negotiations.

The company could earn profits from the district’s budget only after all expenditures are paid.

In the first year, Education Alternatives will invest $1.6 million in school improvements and about $14 million in teaching technology, such as computers.