Bridgeport parents and leaders came together with a plea for more funding for schools in the city.

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim led the call to secure a portion of a donation by the Dalio family to go toward some key priorities. Among them are reducing class size in city schools and helping to recruit more minority teachers.

"I think that this could help a lot if it's just in a small way, it will kind of encourage the kids that, you know, I want to come to school," says Mary McBride Lee.

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Parents told News 12 Connecticut that Bridgeport schools have fewer counselors than other districts in the area and this funding could help change that.

"When compared to some of the suburban districts, we have a third less of those important positions in our schools," says Kate Rivera.

Gov. Ned Lamont has pledged that the state will match the donation, and said he'll seek an additional $100 million from other big donors, bringing the grand total of this public-private partnership bequest to $300 million to help the state's struggling public schools