Court Nullifies Schools Move In Bridgeport (Conn.)

The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that state officials violated the law last summer during a takeover of the Bridgeport public school system.

The ruling puts a school system already in flux into an even bigger state of uncertainty, calling for the reinstatement of five of the nine ousted school board members and for a special election to fill the four seats that were up for re-election in November 2011.

The court decision could disrupt efforts under way to improve Connecticut's second-largest school district aided by a group of wealthy donors, which in December created the Bridgeport Education Reform fund with $400,000, in part to bring in Paul Vallas, the former New Orleans schools chiefs and a national figure in education reform, to help run the district as interim superintendent.