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Ready for a Commitment?
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Business New Haven
1/12/1998
By: Marci Alborghetti
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Voc-tech schools not 'poor
stepchildren,' state officials say
“It is absolutely incorrect and unfair to give the impression that Connecticut's vocational-technical schools are the poor stepchildren of the [state] Department of Education or, for that matter, the Rowland administration.”
So proclaimed Tom Murphy, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, in response to critics of how the state is treating its voc-tech schools.
The issue was stirred up by an editorial in the Hartford Courant suggesting that Gov. John G. Rowland and the State Bond Commission had been dragging their feet on releasing funds to upgrade and improve the state's 17 voc-tech schools and two satellites. However, the Rowland administration has publicly committed itself to the state's voc-tech system, promising at least $20 million going forward to the schools.
Murphy asserts that the administration has not faltered in this commitment, though the process of releasing the money has been slowed by the need to procure bids and architectural plans for the facilities. Citing Bullard-Havens Regional Vocational Technical School in Bridgeport, the second-largest voc-tech school in the state and one that is acknowledged to be in need of upgrading, Murphy explained, “All the money for Bullard-Havens hasn't been released
simply because we haven't asked
for it.
“We have asked for - and received - funds for design costs, but the initial architectural plans came in way over budget, and we had to go through the process again,” said Murphy. “The Bond Commission hasn't stalled anything here, and we expect them to release the money needed for the actual work in January or February.”
Murphy also said that the state released funds to ensure that Bullard-Havens would not be placed on probation by the New England Association of Schools & Colleges for the poor condition of its facilities and equipment. Murphy said that funds to make necessary improvements were released as soon as the association suggested the possibility of probation for Bullard-Havens.
With more than 1,000 students - and more on a waiting list - Bullard-Havens will come up for accreditation by the association
in May, according to the regular five-year schedule cycle. Murphy said that improvements and renovations will have begun by then, and no problems with accreditation are anticipated. Bullard-Havens director Joseph LaVorgna had no comment.
Cecil Robinson, director of Hamden's Eli Whitney Vocational-Technical School, the state's largest, welcomes the governor's public stand on behalf of the voc-tech system. “I am wholeheartedly
in support of anyone - including the governor - who supports vocational education.
“Spending money on our schools is long overdue and needed if the facilities and equipment are to take us to the year 2000 and beyond,” Robinson said. “Many of our schools are old and in need of repair, and we need the kind of equipment that wins us credibility among the industries and manufacturers with whom we are in constant partnership.”
Explaining that industry employers in Connecticut seek well-trained graduates who are accustomed to using up-to-date equipment, Robinson emphasized the positive affect an infusion of state bond money would have on the voc-tech system as well as employers.
Murphy also noted: “Manufacturing is making a slow comeback in the state, and the manufacturers will need these kids. This is increasingly evident to the students; enrollment has been up consistently over the last four years and some of the schools have waiting lists.”
Rowland spokesperson Dean Pagani said that the governor is putting together a funding package that will “include the how, what, where the money will be spent and when, or according to what schedule.” Pagani added that the package will be ready by the start of the legislative session early next month.
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