A well-known education voice in Connecticut was critical of Hartford mayoral candidate Luke Bronin in a recent blog post for his decision to send his children to a private school in West Hartford rather than public schools.
Former State Rep. Jonathan Pelto wrote that Bronin's decision to send his two young children to the Montessori School of Greater Hartford "sends out a powerful message about privilege and entitlement."
Bronin, the Democratic Town Committee-endorsed candidate for mayor, said the decision is a personal one, but also a reasoned one.
The couple had intended to send their children to the Annie Fischer Montessori Magnet School in Hartford but circumstances changed after their son had been enrolled there for one year.
"Like a lot of parents, we put our child into the lottery. We had two children who we hoped would do well in the lottery, and like a lot of parents, we didn’t fare well," Bronin said.
When their daughter wasn't admitted, they shifted their focus to finding a suitable private school that both children could attend.
The Bronins' disappointment with their lottery experience may influence Luke Bronin's policy agenda.
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"That part of the process was frustrating for us like the process is frustrating for a lot of Hartford parents," he said.. "One of the things that I would like to do is try to make the lottery process more transparent, a lot more user friendly."
Two members of Segarra's City Hall staff posted links to Pelto's blog post, along with comments critical of Bronin, but the posts were deleted.
Bronin, who attended private and boarding schools himself before attending completing his undergraduate and and advanced degrees at Yale and Oxford, said he won't rule out sending his children to Hartford Public Schools in the future.
"I would love to send my kids at some point to public school," he said. "We’ve made a decision as parents that this is the right choice for our kids right now and I think any parent would understand that."
