April_2019

ADVOCATING

4 CEA ADVISOR APRIL 2019

TEACHERS TO LEGISLATORS: THIS IS WHAT WE NEED Teacher-Legislator Back-Home Meetings Emphasize Classroom Safety, Teacher Retirement, More Teachers have a lot to say on issues ranging from their pensions to

be a part of the legislature’s budget discussion. Southington Education Association President Dan Hart, who attended the meeting, has urged his colleagues to continue pushing back against the cost shift. “I’m also urging lawmakers to support the plan to stabilize the Teachers’ Retirement Fund. This is a critical issue for all of us.” (See next page.) Classroom safety A classroom safety bill voted favorably out of the legislature’s Education Committee (story, pages 8-9) now awaits a vote in Appropriations. Hamden teachers told lawmakers why it’s so important to pass this legislation. “I see more and more teachers getting hurt,” said Hamden Education Association President Diane Marinaro. “And it’s not just in Hamden. My colleagues around the state are reporting the same thing. We’re dealing with behaviors we never used to see.” “I’ve only been teaching for 11 years, but during that time there’s been a dramatic change in our young children,” said elementary school teacher Mary Nelson. “It’s not only our neediest children—it’s an epidemic of kids coming to school unable to communicate on a human level. It’s the number-one issue at the elementary level.” Kindergarten teacher Robin Curcio said more and more expectations have been pushed down to younger and younger students. “What we’re asking of them is crazy. Our students don’t have the opportunity to have a sense of adventure, discovery, and play. When the work we expect is not based on children’s developmental needs, they act out.” Hamden teachers shared that administrators are under a lot of pressure to keep suspension rates To set up a back-home meeting with your legislators on these or other

classroom safety this legislative session, and they are making their voices heard at back-home meetings with their elected officials. “Politicians make decisions that affect our students and profession,” says Hamden Education Association Vice President David Abate. “Sitting back and waiting isn’t a solution. If we want legislators to know what’s going on in our schools, they have to hear from us.” Abate was one of 30 Hamden teachers who came out after school to meet with Representatives Mike D’Agostino and Josh Elliott, Senator George Logan, and Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney to share what’s happening in their classrooms and provide feedback on education bills. Similar meetings with legislators have taken place or are planned throughout the state, in towns including Enfield, Bridgeport, Wallingford, Glastonbury, Stamford, Branford, Milford, Berlin, Derby, Danbury, Cheshire, South Windsor, Putnam, Montville, Bloomfield, Manchester, and Westport. “Now is the time legislators need to hear from teachers en masse.” CEA President Jeff Leake “Now is the time legislators need to hear from teachers en masse,” says CEA President Jeff Leake. “They need to hear teachers’ personal stories and understand the impact that proposed legislation will have on their teacher constituents.” Teacher pensions A top concern raised at back- home meetings is securing teacher retirement and avoiding a cost shift onto cities and towns. It was only because of CEA’s hard work and the involvement of teachers that the harmful cost shift did not make it out of committee this legislative session, House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz told Berlin and Southington teachers at a back-home meeting. He cautioned, however, that the cost shift will still

Hamden Education Association members including President Diane Marinaro, standing at right, had a number of questions for Rep. Mike D’Agostino, Rep. Josh Elliott, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, and Senator George Logan.

down, leaving teachers with limited resources to make do as best they can with students whose problematic behaviors are a cry for help. Looney explained that lawmakers passed legislation limiting expulsions and out-of-school suspensions out of concern that many students don’t have a safe place to be outside of school. He clarified, however, that legislators’ intent was not “keeping kids in the classroom at all costs.” “We don’t want punishment for our students; what we want is for them to get the help and resources they need,” said Marinaro. Minority teacher recruitment Marinaro and Hamden’s director of human resources met recently with CEA Vice President Tom Nicholas about recruiting more minority students to the teaching profession and looking at ways for high school students to earn credit for education classes they take at Southern Connecticut State University. One teacher mentioned that hundreds of certified teachers of color in Connecticut aren’t currently working as teachers, and Marinaro said that Hamden’s HR director will be reaching out to some of those teachers about future openings. A bill on minority teacher recruitment and retention awaiting consideration in the Appropriations Committee offers additional solutions. (See story, next page.) Regionalization As the governor and lawmakers discuss and debate regionalization as a cost-cutting measure, CEA members and leaders are raising questions about the

potential impact on students, communities, and public schools. Specifically, CEA opposes proposals that force districts to consolidate, regionalize, or close schools. At the back-home meeting with Rep. Aresimowicz, Berlin Education Association President Evelisa Mayette noted, “Teachers are asking: What does this mean for our students and schools? Will they lose their teachers? Will we lose our jobs?” Mayette said she and her colleagues felt better informed—and reassured—after talking to Aresimowicz, who said he doesn’t envision such a scenario. CEA Research and Policy Development Specialist Orlando Rodriguez, the organization’s chief economist, has testified on regionalization and reminded legislators that while CEA supports cost-saving measures that enhance educational outcomes, several proposals that have come before the legislature threaten to do the opposite. “We are concerned that redistricting or consolidating in ways that result in closing schools and increasing class sizes could negatively impact children, teachers, and learning outcomes. When you consider costs, you must also consider educational outcomes. There can be grave long-term social consequences to a cost-only perspective.” At press time, Governor Lamont’s proposal for regionalization had changed to emphasize that any initiative where school districts share services and resources would be voluntary.

issues, contact your local association president and myprofession@cea.org .

Connecticut Receives $100 Million Donation to Serve Disengaged Youth Dalio Philanthropies has committed $100 million to strengthening public education in Connecticut. “If you believe in the future of Connecticut, you invest in the future of

Connecticut, and we invest in each and every one of you,” Governor Lamont told students at East Hartford High School, where the announcement was made. “You’ve got an amazing building, a great principal, and some of the greatest teachers in the world right here at East Hartford High. Let’s give a hand for the teachers. They work their hearts out every day.” “I’ve been lucky to be able to live the American Dream,” said Ray Dalio. “And what it means most fundamentally is equal opportunity in education. When you think, what is the best investment you can make, it has to be in the children’s education and the teachers.” The partnership between the state and Dalio Philanthropies aims to benefit Connecticut’s under-resourced communities, with a specific focus where there is both a high poverty rate and a high concentration of youth (14-24) showing signs of disengagement or disconnection from school. While the Dalios have supported charter schools in the past, Barbara Dalio says their foundation has shifted its focus to neighborhood public schools. Having spent time in Norwalk public schools, she saw firsthand the lack of resources, counselors, and social workers and understands that charters don’t solve the problems facing public education.

CEA Executive Director Donald Williams and President Jeff Leake told Governor Lamont and Barbara Dalio that they look forward to teachers’ input being integral to the partnership.