9486 in the collection
Donors Urged School Ouster
Ohanian Comment: This seems to be another example of the hedge-fund version of the Midas Touch: Everything they touch eliminates the public voice.
Steve Mandel is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Harvard Business School Board of Dean's Advisors, a trustee of Teach for America, Board Chair of Dartmouth College and is a former trustee of Phillips Exeter Academy and The Children’s School in Stamford, CT. In today's ethos, this certainly qualifies him to eliminate a local school board.
In January 2011, Steve and Sue Mandel pledged $25 million in matching funds to Teach for America. This was part of Eli Broad's drive to establish a $100 million endowment for Teach for America.
They are listed in the $100,000 to $249,000 category for New Leaders for New Schools.
There's no mention of how much the Mandels, who live in Stamford, CT, have given to the Bridgport schools.
By Shelly Banjo
A billionaire hedge-fund manager's charitable foundation urged Connecticut state officials to dissolve the Bridgeport city school board and offered help with "education reform" if a new regime took over, according to emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Before the state took over Bridgeport's school district last month, there were at least six months of behind-the-scenes exchanges about a state takeover between State Department of Education officials and Meghan Lowney, a consultant to the $134 million family foundation of Sue and Steve Mandel, the founder of Lone Pine Capital in Greenwich, Conn., the emails show.
As the beleaguered district--Connecticut's second-largest with 20,000 students-- was facing an $18-million budget shortfall, the consultant suggested private help was on the way—if the current school board was ousted.
It's unclear if the emails influenced the state's decision to take over Bridgeport schools on July 6. Allan Taylor, the State Board of Education chairman, said the discussions played no role in his decision to vote for the take over.
No money was pledged in the emails, but the Mandels have donated to several Bridgeport education organizations in the past. Mr. Mandel didn't return phone calls.
"Should the SDE act to intervene, there is [sic] excellent private partnership to be activated," Meghan Lowney, a consultant working for the Mandels, wrote to Mr. Taylor in April.
"A community of concerned citizens has formed and is ready to help," Ms. Lowney later told Mr. Taylor in June in an email. "But none of us will invest in this current dysfunctional system."
In the emails, Ms. Lowney said she was acting on behalf of the Mandels' foundation. According to 2010 tax returns, she received $101,811 from the foundation and was the only person it paid.
In a telephone interview, Ms. Lowney said the state takeover represented a new beginning for Bridgeport schools. She said the Mandels' foundation and other education donors want to work with Bridgeport.
"The State's decision to intervene positions Bridgeport at the beginning of a new phase—it is up to all of us to make sure this opportunity is not wasted," Ms. Lowney said Thursday. "I am committed to being of service to ensure change results, change that will lead to improved learning outcomes for children."
While the emails showed some city school board members wanted the state to intervene, there was little public debate before the city board voted to dissolve itself on July 5. The state took over a day later.
The rapid actions taken by the boards of education, made just ahead of a new school year and an approaching school-board election, surprised many in Bridgeport. Parents held protests and filed a lawsuit.
The emails, first reported by the Connecticut Post on Thursday, further outraged activists seeking to stop the takeover. "The state sold the Bridgeport school district to the highest bidder," said Gwen Samuel, a member of a Connecticut parent group working to halt the intervention.
The emails date back as far as January between Ms. Lowney and Mr. Taylor, who forwarded the exchanges to acting state education commissioner George Coleman and Bridgeport officials. The emails also claimed Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch was involved, though he wasn't included on any of the emails reviewed. Mr. Finch didn't immediately return a call for comment.
A spokesman for Mr. Coleman said his "intentions now are to move forward with a newly formed board of education that he hopes will restore confidence in all the stakeholders of public education and Bridgeport."
Mr. Taylor said discussions about a state takeover remained private until July because "the conversation was internal in Bridgeport, as far as I'm concerned."
— Shelly Banjo
Wall Street Journal
2011-08-05
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903366504576488552865188410.html?mod=djemITP_h
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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