Amid scandals affecting New Haven, Bridgeport and Hartford, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the state education department “needs to do a better job” in monitoring charter schools — but stood by his expansion of charters across the state.
Malloy, who is running for reelection, made the remarks this week during an unrelated visit to the Bella Vista housing complex in New Haven. The state’s handling of charter schools has emerged as an issue in the gubernatorial campaign.
On that same day, Bridgeport became the latest entity to cut ties with Family Urban Schools of Excellence (FUSE), the company that runs the Jumoke Academy charter schools in Hartford. FUSE had been running a turnaround school in Bridgeport. The divorce was the third in a series: Hartford recently ended a similar relationship with FUSE, and Rev. Eldren D. Morrison booted FUSE as the manager of a charter school he aims to open next month in New Haven with 225 students and $2.5 million in state money. FUSE lost several top officials after revelations that its CEO lied about holding a doctorate of education and failed to disclose his criminal background, among other concerns.
After firing FUSE, Morrison made a plea to the state Wednesday to open the school with a last-minute change of management.
During his New Haven stop Wednesday, the governor addressed both specific questions about FUSE as well as broader questions about charter schools. (Click on the video at the top of the story to watch some of the conversation.)
Malloy was asked if Morrison’s school, Booker T. Washington Academy (BTWA), should open this fall with its originally planned size.
“That’s up to the sponsor of the school,” Malloy replied. “If they can get it up and running, great.” If it needs to be smaller, “we’re open to that.”
The scandal with FUSE has been couched as a watershed moment for Connecticut’s charter movement. The state created no new charters from 2008 through 2012. In the past two years, the state has approved creating seven new charters. Malloy was asked about the critique that the state has expanded charters too quickly.
“Let’s concentrate for a second,” he replied. Out of 1,151 public schools across the state, 18 are charters. “No one’s going terribly fast” in expanding charters in Connecticut, Malloy said.
Charters educate 7,100 students, or 1.3 percent of kids statewide, significantly lower than the national average of 4.2 percent.
In the past two years, FUSE won contracts to run two turnaround schools in Hartford and Bridgeport and to run BTWA. Malloy was asked if the state failed to do its due diligence.
“The department needs to do a better job in reviewing these things on an ongoing basis,” Malloy replied, “just as we need to do a very good job in supervising the other 1,100 public schools. There are problems that pop up in other public schools” as well.
After the Courant broke a series of stories revealing problems at FUSE, the state imposed tougher rules concerning background checks and anti-nepotism at charters. Charters, unlike traditional public schools, must face charter renewal every three to five years in order to stay open.
The department has also launched a review into “existing rules and practices regarding the state’s oversight of charter schools”; the review is set to be complete by Aug. 11.
Some state board of education members called for delaying BTWA’s opening given that FUSE — which was supposed to recruit students, hire staff and run the school — is gone.
“That’s a reasonable discussion to have. Don’t get me wrong,” Malloy said. “Some people have said no, let’s wait until next year.” He said the community, the state and the board governing the school “need to work that out.”
FUSE was hired to “help put together” the BTWA charter application, Malloy noted. “They weren’t the responsible party for the application.”