School Privatization Effort Falters
A private company that once promised to turn around troubled public schools around the country received what could be a fatal blow Tuesday as Hartford school board members withdrew their support.
Shares of Education Alternatives Inc. plunged 36% Tuesday on the news that it was losing its last remaining agreement, a contract to manage Hartford’s schools.
After an escalating debate over more than $10.5 million in bills the company wanted Hartford to pay for equipment, staff and other improvements, three of EAI’s five supporters on the nine-member board said Tuesday they will vote to end the contract.
“We have no choice but to seek and end to our relationship with EAI in what we hope will be an amicable parting,” school board Chairwoman Stephanie Lightfoot said. “We arrive at this decision with sadness, but with no malice.”
The contract called for EAI to be paid out of savings it promised to find in the school budget. City officials say EAI had not found enough savings to pay its bills. EAI claims it found ways to save but the school board spent the money.
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