Ansonia High School
ANSONIA — A teachers’ union is teaming with school leaders and Democratic candidates for office to hold a rally at the high school Thursday to draw attention to the school district’s legal dispute with City Hall.
The rally is scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m. at the high school, 20 Pulaski Highway.
The event was announced in a press release from AFT Connecticut, a teachers union which represents 30,000 education professionals statewide.
“Local educators and parents will rally to demonstrate their collective opposition to the impounding of resources earmarked for local public schools by Ansonia’s mayor and board of alders,” the press release said. “Teachers and administrators will speak briefly on how student learning has been negatively impacted since $600,000 in state Department of Education-directed Alliance District resources in June were improperly withheld.”
Click here to listen to a podcast from June with Ansonia Federation of Teachers President Mathew Hough about the local impact of the budget passed by Aldermen, which school officials at the time said resulted in 17 layoffs.
The rift between the city and school board developed after the Ansonia Board of Aldermen voted to take back $600,000 in education funding in January.
The Aldermen’s move meant that city schools did not receive at least the same amount of money it had the previous year — a violation of Connecticut’s “minimum budget requirement,” according to the state Department of Education.
Mayor David Cassetti’s administration said the cut was reasonable because the school board received about $1.8 million in unanticipated grants from the state.
In May, the school board sued the city over the $600,000 cut.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Nov. 13, a with a trial date looming next year if the case isn’t resolved.
Click here to read everything the Valley Indy has published regarding the budget dispute.
Also scheduled to appear at Thursday’s rally — representatives of Friends of Ansonia Education, a recently established community group, as well as three Democratic candidates campaigning for office in next month’s elections.
The full line-up of speakers:
- Friends of Ansonia Education representative Lisa Glazer;
- Ansonia Public Schools Superintendent Carol Merlone;
- Ansonia Federation of Teachers President Mathew Hough;
- AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel;
- Candidate for 104th State House District Kara Rochelle, who has been endorsed by the teachers union;
- Candidate for 17th State Senate District Jorge Cabrera;
- Candidate State Attorney General William Tong;
- U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro’s re-election campaign manager James Tickey.
