Letters to the next mayor of New Haven

Student activitists involved in city issues discuss the challenges facing the future administration.

Education

BY SARAH CALDWELL

This year's Dem-ocratic primary for the mayoral race promises to continue the trend of focusing on education as a major point of debate. The declared candidates have already taken on the issue, with a focus on the district's chronically low test scores.

FILE PHOTO

Incumbent John DeStefano, Jr. has proposed privatizing a portion of New Haven's schools as well as closing existing schools that do not meet certain standards. These changes, along with the implementation of universal school choice, are intended to force schools to improve their performance in order to compete for students.

State Senator Martin Looney's proposals emphasize the need for downsizing, especially in the district school administrations. He is very concerned with the continuing poor achievement of New Haven students on standardized tests and criticizes DeStefano's record of concentration on school construction instead of what he views as more pressing educational deficiencies. Looney has also discussed creating a competitive public high school that would admit students based on an entrance exam rather than a lottery.

As a tutor and work-study intern at Amistad Academy, a public charter middle school in New Haven, I have been exposed to the controversy surrounding the growing popularity of schools of choice and privatization as panaceas for educational problems in large urban districts. While Amistad Academy is a school of choice, it also embodies the model of a smaller, more decentralized system that puts the improvement of basic skills at the forefront of its efforts. The greatest strength of this model is its ability to build connections between parents, students, and teachers.

While parent involvement may be an elusive phenomenon, there are certain ways of organizing schools that facilitate its cultivation. Creating smaller schools that are more rooted in neighborhood communities and target the quality of the relationships between students, parents, and teachers is certainly one effective route.

DeStefano's plan for introducing privatization and more schools of choice is not the most sensible direction for education in New Haven. The success of privately operated schools in boosting academic aptitude in other school districts remains disputed. Looney's call for a less complex approach to education, one that aims to concentrate resources in the schools themselves rather than in administrative machinery, is a better way of balancing a system that has already undergone numerous experimental stages.

Whatever strategy of education reform the winner of the mayoral race chooses, it should be one that is concerned with long-term educational improvements that ground themselves in something more substantial than educational trends. Education has to be distanced from its polemic value as a tool if the candidates plan to make enduring improvements in the present and future lives of students, parents, and teachers in New Haven.

Sarah Caldwell, TD '02, is a coordinator of the Amistad Academy tutoring program.

Biotechnology

BY IAN SOLOMON

About five years ago, Yale and the City of New Haven finally realized that they depend on each other's success. Yale started supporting the growth of local industry, while New Haven began to provide reliable government services. Helped along by state and national economic trends, as well as an array of impressive entrepreneurs, New Haven is now a place where businesses want to be located, rather than one they are seeking to flee.

REBECCA ROSENTHAL/YH

The story, of course, is not that simple, but the results speak for themselves: Achillion, Alexion, Cellular Genomics, CuraGen, Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Molecular Staging, Neurogen, PhytoCeutica, Recombinant Technologies, Vion. This is a partial list of the young biotechnology companies that operate in or around New Haven, generating well over 1,000 direct and auxiliary jobs, millions of dollars in tax revenues, over $1 billion in investment capital, and immeasurable entrepreneurial energy and excitement.

But there is still more work to be done, and the next mayor can play an important role, either positively or negatively, in developing the biotech industry and realizing its promises for economic development. Recognizing the limitations on mayoral efficacy due to the fiscal weakness of Connecticut cities and New Haven's two-year mayoral term, the next administration should focus on three priorities.

Basic Services. If cities did nothing more than provide basic services (sanitation, education, traffic, and safety) in the professional way that citizens have a right to expect, they would dramatically reduce the costs of doing business and improve the quality of life for all residents and employees. If the next administration does not do more to ensure that New Haven fulfills its basic commitment to clean, safe streets and good public schools to businesses and residents alike, the biotech industry will fail to attract, develop, and retain the workforce that is critical to its growth, and the city will fail to realize the economic development potential of the industry.

Basic Infrastructure. Like all businesses, biotech firms would benefit from an expansion of the desperately limited Tweed Airport. Even more immediate, however, is the need for lab space. The privatization of Science Park and the private development of 300 George St. last year were terrific advances. The next administration should do even more to facilitate and create incentives for the private development of additional facilities.

Marketing. Notwithstanding all the good news about New Haven, its troubled reputation has yet to disappear. The next administration must articulate an inviting vision for the city and create a "buzz" about its assets. This includes facilitating more events like the upcoming Connecticut Venture Fair and the International Festival of Arts and Ideas. It also involves actively inspiring and recruiting students to be a part of the city's future.

Ian Solomon, LAW '02, is a member of the Yale Biotechnology Student Interest Group.

Labor

BY VICTOR P. CORONA

The upcoming months are critical for the Yale community in terms of how the Administration decides to deal with different groups of employees, all fighting for quality jobs and a voice in the workplace. The future of the New Haven economy and the improvement of the community and town-gown relations depend on the state of labor relations at Yale, as well as on the kind of leadership that exists in City Hall.

ELIZABETH ARCHIBALD/YH

It is important that, in the months leading up to the Democratic primary, each mayoral candidate be asked to articulate in detail whether or not he is committed to quality, to the rights of all workers to form a union, and to union-wage jobs at Yale in particular.

Since a quarter of New Haven jobs are at Yale and Yale-New Haven Hospital, the administrative relationship with the workers at these institutions affects the standard of jobs throughout the city. For nearly 60 years, the unions on campus, today called the Federation of Hospital and University Employees, have been organizing for a better standard of living for themselves, their families, and their communities. In that time, students, elected officials, and community and religious leaders throughout the New Haven community have come to see the unions' demands as important to the city's economic prosperity, and have joined them in their struggle.

In recent months, incumbent Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. has demonstrated interest and involvement in these issues, and this kind of attention will only become more necessary in the near future. The unions are currently involved in two organizing drives and are preparing for negotiations over Yale's contract with Locals 34 and 35, which expires at the end of this year. Many graduate teachers, united in the Graduate Employees and Students Organization (GESO), are organizing for union recognition, while workers at Yale-New Haven Hospital are also involved in a tough union drive. What is needed in both of these cases is "card-check neutrality," whereby the Administration agrees not to influence workers' decisions as to whether or not they wish to be represented by a union. If a majority of the workers sign union cards, the Administration should then step in and agree to recognize the unions.

It is important for the next mayor of New Haven to support efforts like card-check neutrality, considering the impact that the quality of jobs has on the city's economy. The mayor has a pivotal role in the shaping of the town-gown relationship, and labor relations at Yale are a big part of this dynamic. Now and in the future, the mayor must recognize that it is his responsibility to encourage Yale to engage its employees on equal footing and respect their right to unionize.

Victor P. Corona, DC '03, is an activist in support of the unions at Yale and is also lead organizer of the Ward 7 Organizing Team.

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