Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley disputed claims by the Connecticut Democrats that passages from his urban action plan, unveiled Wednesday in New Britain, are plagiarized.
Giving A through F letter grades to public schools as he has proposed, Foley told Hearst Connecticut Media, is hardly a unique concept.
“It’s not plagiarism to say that we should try it here in Connecticut,” Foley said.
Foley acknowledged the Connecticut Policy Institute, a think tank he founded and bankrolled after he ran for governor in 2010 and lost, provided a blueprint for the plan.
“I founded the Connecticut Policy Institute, and I’ve said from the start that our urban policy agenda would be based on their work,” Foley said. “That’s not plagiarism. The Connecticut Policy Institute looks to work that other states have done where policy has worked.”
Foley said that Democrats are trying to make up for their neglect of the cities under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy through personal attacks.
“Governor Malloy has no urban policy,” Foley said.
Republican candidate for Connecticut governor Tom Foley rides during a campaign stop, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014, in Middletown, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)