Dave Hennessey
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Dave Hennessey was a Democratic member of the Bridgeport Board of Education. He first won election to the board against seven other candidates on November 5, 2013.
On May 23, 2016, Hennessey resigned from the board.[1] Annette Segarra-Negron was appointed to fill the remainder of his term.[2]
Biography
Hennessey served as a teacher and coach in district schools for 38 years before retirement. He also served on the Bridgeport City Council in the 1980s.[3] Hennessey and his wife, Dr. Rosa Rodrigues, had three children who attended district schools.[4]
Elections
2013
Hennessey won election to the board against seven other candidates for five seats on the board on November 5, 2013.
Results
General election
| Bridgeport Public Schools, General Election, 4-year term, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Dave Hennessey |
20.1% | 940 | |
| Democratic | Howard Gardner |
15.7% | 731 | |
| Republican | Joe Larcheveque |
15.1% | 706 | |
| Democratic | Andre Baker, Jr. |
15.3% | 714 | |
| Republican | Steve Best | 11.8% | 550 | |
| Republican | John Weldon | 10.3% | 482 | |
| Working Families | Eric Stewart-Alicea | 4.2% | 194 | |
| Working Families | Sauda Baraka Incumbent |
4% | 186 | |
| Working Families | Andre Baker, Jr. | 3.6% | 167 | |
| Total Votes | 4,670 | |||
| Source: Connecticut Secretary of State, "Municipal Elections - November 5, 2013," accessed December 16, 2013 | ||||
Primary
On September 10, 2013, a Democratic primary was held for three spots on the ballot in the Bridgeport Board of Education election. Hennessey, Andre Baker, Jr. and Howard Gardner won these positions over Simon Castillo, Kathryn Bukovsky and Brandon Clark. The winners ran against the school reform policies of Mayor Bill Finch and received the endorsement of the Network for Public Education while the other three candidates were endorsed by the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee.[5][6]
| Bridgeport Board of Education, September 10, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democrat | Andre Baker, Jr. |
21.6% | 3,409 | |
| Democrat | Dave Hennessey |
21% | 3,308 | |
| Democrat | Howard Gardner |
20.8% | 3,284 | |
| Democrat | Simon Castillo | 12.5% | 1,977 | |
| Democrat | Kathryn Bukovsky | 12.2% | 1,917 | |
| Democrat | Brandon Clark | 11.8% | 1,862 | |
| Total Votes | 15,757 | |||
| Source: Connecticut Post These results are unofficial. | ||||
Funding
Dave Hennessey reported no contributions or expenditures to the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission.
Endorsements
Hennessey was endorsed by the Connecticut Post prior to the September 10, 2013 Democratic primary.[7] He earned the endorsement of Citizens Working for a Better Bridgeport PAC during the general election.[8]
Campaign themes
2013
In a letter to Only in Bridgeport, Hennessey and his fellow Democratic candidates discussed their campaign themes for 2013:[9]
| “ |
"What can the B.E.S.T. team do? How can the B.E.S.T. team help to give all children the quality public school education they deserve? We were asked these questions repeatedly during our walks around the various neighborhoods in our city. We replied that we are candidates who will demonstrate a commitment to shared governance. We will actively seek input from parents, teachers, administrators, students, and the community. Our team will not handle this participation in a perfunctory way. We will not be beholden to the city administration, the teachers association, any particular interest group, or overly influential parents. We will ask questions and demand answers on any, and all, matters regarding the education deserved by all students. The B.E.S.T. team will support administrators, but challenge them when it is appropriate. The position of the teachers association is to be respected, but will not control the Board’s agenda. Active and vociferous parents must be heard, but not permitted to sway the Board’s objective of doing what’s best for all children in our district. What happens if the B.E.S.T. team is elected in November? Some of the problems in our schools have been occurring for an extended period of time. It will take an equally long time to rectify those particular issues. A long range plan, implemented by a balanced Board of Education concerned with long term progress of all of our students, will address those. There are some problems, however, that are a direct result of an unqualified leader using a “rubber stamp” Board of Education to do what’s politically expedient, not what’s in the best interests of our children. These immediate issues facing the Board of Education at its first meeting are many, but are not limited to the following. They are in no particular order. • Reduction of guidance counselors and subsequent extreme burden for our needy students; • Loss of vital paraprofessionals for our youngest students; • Elimination of Math and Reading coaches and tutors; • Lack of enough nursing/healthcare coverage; • Expansion of Early Childhood education; • Overcrowding in many schools; • Implementation of further testing, which takes away MORE valuable instruction time; • Continued hiring of inexperienced “teachers” (5 weeks of training) as opposed to teachers with 4 years of training, despite the fact that these inexperienced “teachers” cost more than $3,000 additional dollars per year to employ; • Inordinate hours by principals working on teacher evaluations, which inhibit them from being the instructional leaders of their schools. What are the B.E.S.T slate’s solutions? Dave, Howard and Andre will be dedicated to the basic premise that ALL of Bridgeport’s children deserve the same quality public school education that our parents and grandparents received. We will demand of our legislators that the State of Connecticut adopt and implement legislation that fully funds the Education Cost Sharing formula over the next 5 years. It’s currently under-funded by over than $763 million. We will ensure that civility is the norm on the Board of Education, and that all voices are heard and valued." [10] |
” |
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Dave + Hennessey + Bridgeport + Schools"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Connecticut Post, "Bridgeport school board in turmoil," October 9, 2016
- ↑ Connecticut Post, "New school board member accepts challenge," July 31, 2016
- ↑ Network for Public Education, "NPE endorses three candidates for Bridgeport, CT Board of Education," September 6, 2013
- ↑ Connecticut Post, "BOE candidates answer key questions," September 9, 2013
- ↑ Connecticut Post, "Challengers win school board primary," September 11, 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedgardner - ↑ Connecticut Post, "Challengers offer best bet for school board," September 9, 2013
- ↑ Citizens Working for a Better Bridgeport, "Political Action Committee CW4BB Announces General Election Endorsements," October 3, 2013
- ↑ Only in Bridgeport, "Dem School Board Candidates Share Priorities," October 3, 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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