THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 6, 1994 TAG: 9410060458
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
The Board of Education in Hartford, Conn., has agreed to turn over the day-to-day operation of the city's 32 schools to a Minneapolis-based contractor, making Hartford the first community in the country to completely privatize its public school system.
The decision follows years of frustration among parents and educators in Hartford with the performance of the city's schools, which, with 24,000 students, represent the largest school district in Connecticut. Hartford spends $8,450 per pupil per year, substantially more than the state and national average, yet it turns out students who rank academically among the worst in the state.
Hartford school officials and educational experts predicted Tuesday that the city's arrangement with Educational Alternatives Inc. would be the beginning of dramatic changes in the management of school systems around the country, particularly in troubled areas facing predicaments similar to Hartford's.
Under the agreement, Hartford will give Educational Alternatives responsibility for the city's entire $171 million education budget, with the understanding that the firm will make a $20 million investment of its money in new computers and renovations, improve financial reporting and facilities management and upgrade training and curriculum.
The company will be allowed to keep as profit a share of whatever money out of the overall budget they manage to save.
Privatization has been considered in Hampton Roads. But, at the Portsmouth School Board's July retreat, Superintendent Richard D. Trumble backed away from his idea of contracting out the management of some of the city's public schools. The proposal gained scant support from teachers, residents and board members. The board announced, however, that the idea could be revisited.
KEYWORDS: PRIVATIZATION SCHOOLS by CNB