The New Haven Board of Education

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By Gabrielle Tunucci

October 29th, 2019: A New Haven Register article title reads: “Birks gets $175,000 payout in severance agreement.” According to the article, the recent severance of Carol Birks, the former Superintendent of Schools, is one of many controversies in the New Haven Board of Education’s search for a superintendent. New Haven residents had been attending Board of Education meetings since 2017 to express their outrage “for what they view as a rigged and un-transparent process.” A representative of the school board insisted that the search process was “transparent and included ample feedback from the community and stakeholders.” This event exemplifies citizens’ ongoing contentions with the Board of Education: its design as a political body.

Since New Haven’s founding, education has been a cornerstone of the community. The Puritans who first colonized what is now the city of New Haven emphasized the importance of education. Although they were a religious group, Puritans recognized the potential of education to shape more moral and upright citizens through reading and studying the Bible. The Puritan governor John Davenport was an enthusiastic proponent of public education and co-founded the Hopkins School that still exists today. The Puritans left a legacy of educational values that continued to influence New Haven as the city throughout its history and today.

As the New Haven population increased and the public school system broadened, a school board became necessary to control and coordinate educational activity. The New Haven Board of Education was established in 1856 due to pressure from the state government’s new education program. Early accounts of the New Haven school board describe its function and purpose as an overseeing administrative body. According to the 1910 record of the New Haven Board of Education, the board was a branch of the city government responsible for overseeing the public school system, including wide-ranging duties such as: managing spending, hiring teachers, and determining curricula. The detailed account of the board’s rules and regulations shows the school board’s extensive influence in the operation of public schools at every level. The board itself was organized into several committees and presided over by officials such as the Superintendent of Schools. Board members were directly appointed by the mayor and served four-year terms. 

Many characteristics of these original school boards are still present in the New Haven Board of Education today, most importantly its political status. Although measures were taken in 1910 to prevent partisan bias and public distrust, such as requiring members of different political parties to serve on the board and establishing public meetings, the October 2019 article in the New Haven Register demonstrates persisting issues. Even in the nineteenth Century, there was conflict among citizens pushing for schools to be secular and eliminate religious instruction. Community members as well as board members rallied in order to call out the board’s inaction. This “minority” group felt that the board was ignoring their concerns and so published a text outlining their position. These problems were also noted in the 1940s by an independent survey tasked with evaluating the New Haven public school system. The survey recognized the negative effects of a partisan Board of Education, such as skepticism and blame from school employees and the public. Instead, it called for an independent board that was separate from the government and therefore could focus entirely on meeting the needs of students. This survey also revealed the lack of public relations in the New Haven Board of Education, asserting that this deficit disconnected residents from the decision-making process and therefore created misunderstandings and ill will. In its analysis, the survey states: “In attempting to meet the needs of an increasingly complex society the school has, of necessity, become a highly complex institution. The public, generally, does not understand its aids or its curriculums” and concludes that if a school system is to be efficient it must “keep the public fully informed of its objectives, its programs, its activities, and its needs” (New Haven, Conn., 1947:288). 


 
Images from the 1940s survey of the New Haven public school system, 
(New Haven's Schools: An Investment in Your City's Future: Report of a Survey of the Public School System 1946-47)

More recent reports from 2013 indicate similar problems. In their examination of the New Haven school district’s new reform program, “New Haven School Change,” the survey noticed concerns of students, parents, and teachers that resemble the disconnection between the public and administration recorded in the 1940s survey. Parents said that they did not feel as though the schools or district as a whole “was more welcoming or they were made to feel more engaged” despite the city’s attempted reforms meant to increase student retention rates, test scores, and academic ability. In the conclusion, the survey states that parents did not feel that the district “wanted their input” or read their responses and feedback to the new programs. The survey, conducted by RAND corporation, recommended that the Board of Education use more internalized evaluation from parents and students rather than relying solely on data, and that there should be more communication with the public directly. The results are similar to the 1940 survey’s call for the Board of Education to implement a better public relations program.

The history of the New Haven Board of Education as a political institution has shaped its identity since its founding. An examination of its past shows that the Board maintains many of the same purposes and functions as it did at its founding, including persisting problems. It is a significant part of the community and represents the continuation of New Haven’s emphasis on education, which makes it an important and interactive entity in the lives of New Haven residents and a large part of the city’s identity.

Parents attend a 2017 New Haven Board of Education meeting to voice concerns about the appointment of a new Superintendent of Schools.Courtesy of WTNH News 8.


Bibliography

Gonzalez, Gabriella C., Robert Bozick, Lindsay Daugherty, Ethan Scherer, Reema Singh,                              Mónica Jacobo Suárez, and Sarah Ryan. Transforming an Urban School System:    Progress of            New Haven School Change and New Haven Promise Education Reforms (2010–2013). RAND            Corporation, 2014. www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt14bs3dw.

New Haven (Conn.). Board of Education. (1947). New Haven's schools: an investment in your city's            future : report of a survey of the public school system, 1946-47. New Haven, Conn.. 

 New Haven (Conn.). Board of Education. (1910). Rules and Regulations of the Board of Education             of the New Haven City School District ... 1910. Harty Press.

New Haven City School District. (1878). Report of the Committee on Schools and views of the                     minority of the Board of Education of the New Haven City School District, concerning the                   discontinuance of religious exercises in the public schools. New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse &             Taylor.

Zahn, B. (2019, October 29). “Birks Gets $175,000 pay out in severance agreement.” Retrieved                    from https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Birks-signs-exit-agreement-BOE-looks-to-                    move-14568673.php.


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