Nearly 100 people showed their support for the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition’s (BCAC) “Children’s Bill of Rights for Education” by taking pen in hand and signing their name to the document, which was mounted on a two-foot by three-foot board and displayed at the Community Center of the Mt. Aery Baptist Church in Bridgeport Tuesday evening.
“We have been in a holding pattern since the reconstitution of the Bridgeport Board of Education earlier this summer,” said Mary Pat Healy, BCAC’s Executive Director. That reconstitution is currently being challenged at the Connecticut Supreme Court level.
“BCAC felt that setting forth a Children’s Bill of Rights for Education could be a rallying point for all parties with a vested interest in Bridgeport’s education system,” said Frances Newby, Chairwoman of the BCAC Board of Directors. “We believe our 10-point Bill of Rights outlines the foundation for a revived school system that is accountable to parents and, more important, to children.” 
The Children’s Bill of Rights for Education supports a school system and school board that is transparent, equitable, appropriately funded, safe, encourages public engagement, represents and answers the needs of the city’s diverse community and which has strong leadership. “For too long the children of Bridgeport have been short changed in receiving the education they deserve,” said Healy. “The Board of Education and the school system must be accountable and committed to excellence. It is not too much for our children to ask.”
At last night’s introduction of the Children's Bill of Rights for Education, State Representative Andres Ayala and Representative Auden Grogins signed the Bill of Rights as did more than 50 audience members. Many Bridgeport agencies representing the community also signed the document, including the Bridgeport Children’s Leadership Training Institute, Bridgeport Education Fund, Bridgeport Parent Leadership Training Institute, Bridgeport Schools Parent Advisory Council, the Center for Women and Families, Greater Bridgeport Branch of the NAACP, the Greater Bridgeport Latino Network, RYASAP, and the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County.
If you would like to show your support for the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition’s Children’s Bill of Rights for Education, please click here.