MIDDLETOWN - In their first debate of the general election season, the three top gubernatorial contenders disagreed Tuesday night as they delivered their prescriptions to fix the struggling public education system.
Democrat Dannel Malloy, Republican Tom Foley, and Independent Party candidate Thomas E. Marsh faced off on teacher performance, charter schools, union influence, and tenure in a 50-minute forum on a makeshift stage in a public school gymnasium in this central Connecticut city.
The three candidates had not appeared together until Tuesday night, and they are scheduled to appear again this morning at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. The televised debates begin next week with the first contest to air on Fox Connecticut at The Bushnell Center For The Performing Arts in Hartford at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Malloy said the biggest improvement in the schools that was passed by the state legislature this year was allowing for more parental involvement in failing Connecticut schools.
"I do believe there is a money question,'' Malloy said, adding that all schools should report the exact amount of money that finally gets into the classroom and how much is spent on administration. Based on Stamford's current system, Malloy said he would push for a universal pre-K system across the state. He said he was the only one running for governor who has actually pushed for school reforms, including the creation of two magnet schools in Stamford.
In stark terms, Foley said the state is facing huge problems in public education.
"This is a war, and we are losing it,'' Foley said in his closing remarks. "If I'm elected governor, education and jobs will be my top priorities.''
Foley noted that the New Haven public school system is spending $13,000 per student, and added that the total does not need to be increased.
"That's plenty,'' Foley said. "We don't need an increase to improve the schools in Connecticut.''
Foley said "the special interests'' have blocked reform in the education system, and improvements need to be made.
Foley said that Malloy has been "in front of the teachers' unions supporting the status quo'' for tenure in the public schools.
Malloy countered that the American Federation of Teachers in Connecticut has pushed for improvements in the New Haven school system.
"This is not: ' I'm for reform' or 'I'm for teachers,' '' Malloy said at the forum at the MacDonough School at 66 Spring Street, not far from the famed O'Rourke's Diner. "You can be for reform and for teachers at the same time.''
Stating that virtually all of the major education organizations in the state are backing Malloy, Marsh questioned whether any changes to the status quo can be made when the chief players have been operating the system for decades.
Regarding Malloy, whom he referred to as "Dannel,'' Foley said, "He is a career politician.''