Dive Brief:

• A municipal election in Bridgeport, Conn., may signal a momentum shift against corporate education reform.
• The Democratic primary saw the sound defeat of three school board members who supported superintendent and education reform superstar Paul Vallas, who made his name in post-Katrina New Orleans by replacing its public schools with charters.
• The new board members will likely spell the end of Vallas' stint as superintendent, as well as his reforms.

Dive Insight: 

This latest volley in the highly polarized education reform debate certainly feels like a shift, but will it catch on? If it does, it will definitely be a win for reform opponents, who have long painted reformers like Vallas and Michelle Rhee as being out to diminish union influence and privatize public schools. Vallas defends his record in Bridgeport, saying he never closed any schools, opened any charters or laid off any teachers, but it's possible that recent developments like the massive school closings in Chicago and New York (which was slated, however, to open 78 in September) may have had far-reaching effects on the movement and the public at large.