April_2019

TESTIFYING

8 CEA ADVISOR APRIL 2019

CLASSROOMS IN CRISIS: THE HIDDEN REALITY IN CONNECTICUT’S SCHOOLS Teachers share powerful stories of classroom violence, diminished learning

At a public hearing of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Education Committee earlier this legislative session, classroom teachers—along with CEA leaders and staff—gave powerful testimony urging lawmakers to address the growing crisis of violent student behavior in rural, urban, and suburban schools throughout the state. They asked their legislators to support House Bill 7110—An Act Concerning Enhanced Classroom Safety and School Climate—which would require schools to help students exhibiting extreme behaviors, provide increased student supports and teacher training, and address children’s mental health and social-emotional needs. More than a dozen teachers and CEA staff testified in person at the hearing, while over 100 others submitted written testimony describing behaviors that continually render their classrooms unsafe and inhibit learning for all students. The bill passed out of committee and will Contact your legislators and ask them to support HB 7110. Schools held hostage In compelling testimony delivered at the Education Committee hearing, Danbury fourth-grade teacher Jennifer Reynolds, a 19-year veteran, pointed out how “a single student’s disruptive behavior can hold an entire school hostage.” She described a school repeatedly in lockdown because of a dysregulated child roaming the halls as well as an entire grade level trapped in their classrooms because of a violent student outside their doors. classrooms is serious and real. Another year of doing nothing is not acceptable.” Jeff Leake, CEA President “This is urgent. The trauma in our next be considered by the Appropriations Committee.

“The measure of

a good day is no longer about learning .

about the problems CEA teachers and staff described—and even experienced them in their own school districts. “I’m an elementary school parent,” said Representative Jillian Gilchrest. Last year, when her first- grade daughter was in kindergarten, she told Gilchrest matter-of-factly one day about a classmate who “got naked again,” prompting the teacher to remove all other students from the classroom. Kaplan-Cho nodded. “Disruptive classroom behavior has become so normalized that parents rarely even hear about it, because kids aren’t talking about it at dinner. That alone is a reason for change.” Representative Vincent Candelora also shared, “I’ve had a number of elementary teachers reach out to me. I was a little taken aback. These educators are devoted to their classroom, and I believe 100 percent they care deeply about the children.” Swept under the rug East Hampton first-grade teacher Cindy Mazzotta told lawmakers she and her colleagues have witnessed a is that no one was injured or assaulted.” Jennifer Reynolds, fourth- grade teacher, Danbury “tremendous change” in student behavior over the last four years of her 19-year career as a teacher. Mazzotta described starting the current school year with “20 bright- eyed students who were ready to learn.” Soon after, she realized two of her students had severe behavioral issues. When she approached her administrator for help, she was told, “Everyone has challenges.” The following day, a student pushed her so hard she fell backward, injuring her back and causing her to miss weeks of work. Mazzotta was reassigned as a K-1 interventionist and forced to leave her classroom behind. Cry for help Unlike many teachers throughout the state, Madison high school special education teacher Danielle Fragoso The measure of a good day now

Connecticut teachers Danielle Fragoso, Jennifer Reynolds, and Cindy Mazzotta prepare to testify before lawmakers about their experience with aggressive student behavior. Watch the video at youtube.com/ceavideo .

“We have had children bring hunting knives to school, hurl metal desks and chairs, threaten their classmates, and shove older or pregnant teachers,” she recalled. “I have had times where 75 percent of my day was taken up by a troubled child in my classroom. Every child I teach deserves their full share of my time—every single one. But how can children make the necessary growth when their teacher is too busy running interference? The measure of a good day is no longer about learning. The measure of a good day now is that no one was injured or assaulted.” By the numbers Students as young as five are biting, kicking, punching, throwing items, urinating on teachers, spitting at classmates,

and lashing out in other ways that put them and their entire classrooms in danger, CEA President Jeff Leake told the committee. “They are coming to school with complex needs, and schools don’t have the resources to address the root causes of these incidents.” School social worker and CEA Vice President Tom Nicholas described how last school year, in just one month’s time, he was hit and kicked no less than 15 times, had a student threaten to kill him with a gun, and fractured three vertebrae trying to protect a student who had run outside the building. CEA’s Robyn Kaplan-Cho provided highly detailed accounts of both disruptive student behaviors and disrupted learning reaching epidemic proportions. “It can take up to three hours from the time a classroom is cleared to settle back in and begin learning,” she explained. “This is trauma not only for the disruptive child who is clearly crying out for help but for the other children in the classroom as well. How many children continue to languish in their classrooms?” She noted that the bill does not call for disciplining or punishing children with behavioral issues but simply getting them the help they desperately need. A handful of lawmakers on the committee acknowledged that they’ve been privy to information

“Howmany children continue to languish in their classrooms?” Robyn Kaplan-Cho, CEA

CEA’s Robyn Kaplan-Cho urges the Education Committee to pass a bill that creates safe learning environments and provides much-needed support for students with behavioral issues. Legislators listened and passed the bill out of committee.