MAYOR PEREZ LEADS

NATIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT TREND

---NEWS RELEASE---

(March 21, 2007)--- Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez is in the forefront of a national educational trend that is the cover story of “USA Today.”  The headline reads:  “More Mayors are Moving to take Over School Systems.”  Albuquerque, New Mexico is the latest city trying to join the movement of Mayors making their student’s educational results a top priority.  Hartford, New York, Boston, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. are other cities featured in the article.

Mayor Perez has been Chairman of the Board of Education since December of 2005.  He appointed himself to the board because academic results and achievements weren’t happening fast enough. 

Mayor Perez says, “Since the newly appointed and elected members have come on board, positive strides have been made.  We have a mandatory school uniform policy in place for grades Pre-K through 8 and we have hired Dr. Steven Adamowski as our new Superintendent who is nationally recognized and has a proven track record in the area of urban education.”

The Mayor goes on to say, “Already, we are seeing the results of Dr. Adamowksi’s work:  the school calendar now includes more instructional time, the curriculum is being strengthened, reading levels are being addressed through summer school, improving schools are being applauded, and parents are being asked to be more engaged in their child’s education.”

The USA Today article says, “Proponents of mayoral control say schools must be well-run before they can teach well, and having the city’s top leader run the schools often brings stability and better financial management.”  The article also credits mayoral-run boards with being more accountable and attracting a higher voter turnout for off-year elections.