When finances are tight, every little bit helps, but some Connecticut cities have potentially thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars, sitting unused and uncollected on Connecticut’s unclaimed property list, known as the Big List, […]
Bridgeport
Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury and Hartford all face mounting debt, pension and OPEB liabilities, coupled with high taxes, high rates of poverty and declining services, according to a forth-coming study entitled Connecticut's Broken Cities.
However, Stamford remains the one major Connecticut city that does not qualify as a “distressed municipality.”
Ms. Coates and her husband had enrolled their two older children in private Catholic school, but that eventually became a financial impossibility. Instead of moving out of Bridgeport, where most schools in the city were rated far lower than those in surrounding areas, she decided to tackle the situation head on.
Ms. Coates showed up at a Bridgeport Board of Education meeting, where she witnessed parents at odds with each other and a system that was not working for her kids.
Bridgeport ranked highest in the nation for “family flight” as middle income families flee urban areas with failing schools, according to research done by Dr. Bartley Danielson, associate professor of finance and real estate at North Carolina State University.
Danielsen examined 100 metropolitan areas across the United States and compared census data for families with children aged 0-4 and 5-9. His findings showed that families whose children reach school age relocate out of areas with poor performing schools.
A federal audit criticized Connecticut housing officials for failing to finish a number of projects supported with $25 million in grant money, with one official blaming "difficult neighborhoods" for the failures.
The state of Connecticut was given $25 million in funds to purchase and rehabilitate houses and buildings that were abandoned or foreclosed during the housing market collapse. However the audit cited instances where work was never completed and properties were left abandoned and falling down.
A federal audit revealed a litany of errors, poor documentation and questionable spending by the Bridgeport Housing Authority, including the use of $1.75 million of housing funds to pay for past-due bills instead of helping people pay for housing. The money, which was meant to be used for housing choice vouchers and low-rent reserve funds, was provided by the federal government. The Bridgeport Housing Authority - now called Park City Communities - is disputing this finding.
Public schools in Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford face a variety of challenges. Safety concerns, budget deficits, low student performance and in-fighting among school board members have parents looking for alternative ways to get their children a good education.
CEO of Connecticut is just one of many similar organizations throughout the United States that have made school choice and opportunity for inner city children their mission. Funded only through private donation, foundations like CEO are an example of people coming together to find a solution to a problem that has long plagued state and federal government.
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