By Ashleigh Costello
EAGnews.org

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The fate of a contentious bid to replace the city’s elected school board with one appointed by the mayor will be decided by voters today.

If approved, Bridgeport would join large urban districts like Baltimore, Boston and Chicago in becoming mayor-controlled.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

The proposal has garnered a lot of attention in recent months, with opponents calling it a political power grab by Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and a “slap in the face to democracy,” according to the ctpost.com.

“It’s just wrong,” said Rob Traber, a city teacher.  “This question means we are giving up our right to vote.”

But others see the proposal as a way to hold the school board more accountable to the success, or lack thereof, of Bridgeport public schools.  Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Education Task Force and husband to former D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee, offered his support for the city’s plan to appoint a new board.

“This is not about you giving up your vote,” said Johnson. “Don’t feed into this, that this is anti-voting.  The mayor is not getting full control of the schools.  He’s just appointing a board. I would not be here supporting it if I thought it was a bad idea.”

There are other good reasons why voters may consider approving this plan.

School board terms are currently staggered, so voters cannot hold the entire board accountable for bad policies.  That makes it difficult for citizens to determine whom to remove from office.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

In addition, many school board elections are held separately from statewide or regional elections, resulting in a lower turnout from the general public.  A mere 5.5 percent of registered voters turned out for Bridgeport’s special school board election in September, and many were probably teachers voting for union-endorsed candidates.

The argument about a loss of voter control doesn’t hold water. Citizens would be able to hold the mayor accountable, and vote him out of office if they don’t like the way the school district is managed.

The city had an appointed board for a brief period of time in 2011 after Finch and Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy coordinated a state takeover of what was arguably a defective elected body.  The takeover was eventually overturned by the state Supreme Court.

“We have the worst schools in the state of Connecticut—some of the worst in New England,” said Finch.  “We need to fix it  So if you look at what we’ve done in the last 10 months with an appointed board, we’ve got kids going to college in their senior year, 150 more preschool slots, kids with brand new textbooks throughout the system.”

Jessica Martinez, who has a son at Luis Munoz Marin School, said she is in favor of an appointed school board.  She pointed to the state appointed board’s ability over the last year to eliminate a budget deficit and focus on instruction. She said if the mayor doesn’t do right by the students, she won’t re-elect him.

“It’s not about the mayor, it’s about the children,” Martinez told the news site.

Connecticut’s public schools have some of the largest socioeconomic achievement gaps in the country.  Only 1 in 4 elementary schoolchildren in Bridgeport are reading at grade level. Only 1 in 10 high school students are at grade level in math or reading.  And just half of Bridgeport students graduate from high school, according to news reports.

Supporters hope an appointed board would be able to implement greater reforms and get Bridgeport public schools back on track.