The rabid hecklers at last Tuesday night’s state-led public hearing on Capital Prep Harbor School were extremely confused. That, or they resorted to the same old tactic of lying and misinformation.

Inexplicably, the sheep were baa-ing in favor of magnet schools, while voicing opposition to charters, because … well, I’m not sure why.

The anti-charter school hecklers believe “charter schools drain funding from districts,” based off the rhetoric they spouted. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Charters do not take away transportation or special education money from local districts. Those costs, which the district is federally mandated to pay, can be reimbursed through the state.

The irony is that magnet schools very often do drain district coffers, and pull students from outside their host districts.

In the state of Connecticut, magnet school funding schemes vary widely, but generally, per-pupil funding for in-district magnet school students comes out of a Board of Education’s operating budget.

So, once again, we come to the question … were the hecklers at Tuesday’s public hearing deliberately lying or sadly misinformed.

Probably a bit of both. The Maria Pereiras, Carmen Lopezes and Sauda Barakas of the world deliberately misinform, while their followers do what followers do. And in truth, it doesn’t matter.

The net result is the same: Bridgeport loses out.

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