Opinion: Student Perspective: Fully Fund Our Bridgeport Schools

The following opinion article was written by Kolbe Cathedral High School student Nyasha Williams:

On Monday, May 9th the Bridgeport City Council will vote on a budget proposal that includes a $2.5 million increase for the education budget, rather than the $8.5 million requested by the school board. After years of flat-funding, the increase on the school budget is not enough and there are still going to be cuts made. As Callie Gale Heilmann & Gemeem Davis wrote in a recent CT Post editorial, “Since 2014, just by refusing to keep up with inflation, we have essentially cut $26.5 million in value from education.” The funding for public schools should not just keep up with inflation but try to get better. I’m in 9th grade and I went to public school in Jamaica until moving to Bridgeport at the age of nine, when I went to Luis Munoz Marin Elementary, then High Horizon Magnet School, and now Kolbe Cathedral High School through the Shepherds Mentors scholarship program. My brother and my cousins go to Bridgeport Public Schools. The mayor and city council should invest more in Bridgeport Public Schools because education is an essential part of growing up. Students deserve to have the resources they need to excel in the future.

Bridgeport schools have already been making cuts to staff and school programs. As Board of Ed member Joseph Sokolovic testified at the Bridgeport City Council budget hearing on April 27, “Bridgeport Public Schools have already made over 40 million dollars in programming and personnel cuts since 2016.” Without enough funding students will not have access to updated educational technology, art supplies, extracurricular activities, and even transportation. While teachers often try creating new strategies to work around the budget cuts, they don’t have the ability to replace a solid foundation of resources. Many of these programs that are being cut could be the reason why students find joy in going to school. For example, I am a person who might not like all my subjects, but I enjoy going to school because I know that I have track & field practice after. It gives me the thrill of knowing that we have competitions every week and I also have the exercise that I need without going to the gym. Students deserve to have a well-rounded education and have opportunities to find out what their passions are.

Bridgeport is a place where many people don’t think to come and live. Parents would rather send their children to schools in neighboring towns like Fairfield. If we want people to move here and send their children to our schools, the school budget needs increase. There are over 20,000 students in the Bridgeport School District and they need the resources to get a good education, so the school budget needs to increase. According to U.S.News and World Report, Bridgeport’s minority enrollment is 90% and over half of our students are economically disadvantaged. It’s a social justice issue: the school budget needs to increase. In future years the school budget needs to not only catch up with inflation but to provide the resources to improve our schools. If the mayor and city council are unable to do that then we need to elect other representatives who will.