April-2020-Advisor_2

ADVOCATING

APRIL 2020 CEA ADVISOR 9

teachers out for multiple days due to injuries by students, and we have had several teachers leave in the middle of this year due to student behaviors. I have witnessed teachers crying and trying to figure out how to make it through the day. I have witnessed teachers being blamed for these behaviors, because they must have done something to cause a child to act that way. “We have participated in informational sessions on adverse childhood experiences and trauma. I don’t think there is anyone who would argue that these experiences don’t have an impact on children. What I have not heard is a plan to help. Simply telling teachers that these experiences exist is not enough. We are at a point where the other students in the class, as well as the teachers, are being traumatized. We must find a way to help all of the students, the ones who are acting out and the ones who have to witness it. We owe them better than what they are currently getting.” Elementary school teacher Kristen Lecco, who has taught in Granby for six years, recalled waking up every day excited to go to work when she first embarked on her career. Over a short period of time,

Disrupted learning Representative Susan Johnson, a member of the Education Committee, asked several of the teachers testifying to describe the impacts that behavioral disruptions have on other learners in a classroom. As she sat down to testify, 22-year veteran Windsor teacher Stacey Paley painted a picture for the committee. She tapped her pencil as she spoke. “Imagine you are trying to learn, for the first time, how to add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators and put the answers in lowest terms. As you are trying not to confuse all the steps, another student is loudly tapping his pencil on the table. Your teacher has asked him to stop multiple times. You and other students have asked him to stop multiple times, but he doesn’t. He says, ‘Make me.’ Your teacher has called for assistance, but since the student is not harming himself or another student, she is told to ignore it. “After about 10 minutes, you have forgotten what to do with your math, and your notes look like they have been written in another language. You ask your teacher if you can go to another room to try and work.

doubles in urban areas. Incidents of bullying and aggressive student behavior are far more prevalent— particularly in the early grades, where such behavior has historically been rare. Many of the factors contributing to these problems are beyond the control of educators, and solving this crisis will take more than an hour of professional development squeezed in among all the other professional development requirements teachers must meet in a year.” Torrington science teacher Carrie Cassady explained, “I am in my 20th year of teaching middle school, and in this time, I have seen a dramatic change in student behavior. When I began teaching, disruptive students were a rarity. Today, disruptive, aggressive, and sometimes violent behavior is common. It is a daily occurrence, multiple times a day. I teach five classes a day, and every single one of my classes is interrupted by disruptive behavior— either in my room or in the hallway. My students don’t even react to the disruptions because they are so pervasive that they have become normal. This is not normal. It should never be normal.” “Our students are screaming out for help,” said Windsor teacher Lynne DeVito. “They are suffering.” Teachers are feeling the pain as well, she said. “My day begins by

clipping a walkie-talkie to my pants. Every single time it goes off, every member of the pupil services team at my school jumps. Every day at my school, students and staff are hurt because of aggressive behavior. The situation is so extreme that of the four special education teachers in my building, three of us have been physically hurt this year.” Fellow Windsor teacher Lisa Thomas, now in her 35th year as a Connecticut public school teacher, told legislators she has never seen the level of trauma and anger in so many students as she has experienced in the past three years. “Our kids are hurting,” she said. “None of us goes into teaching for any kind of glory. We are in it because we believe in nurturing the future. But we can’t do that when we fear for our safety or when we have to evacuate classrooms to keep students safe from one another. Please try to imagine the impact that such environments have on learning. What child wants to come to school when they fear for their safety? When they wonder if their classroom will have to evacuate because a classmate is violent? When they freeze each time a ‘privacy team’ call comes across the loudspeaker? This is not what Connecticut should settle for. Our values call for so much more.”

“The increase in rigor has stretched our littlest learners so thin that they are now anxious, stressed-out students who struggle to work through problems themselves.” Marlborough kindergarten teacher Amy Farrior

CEA Vice President Tom Nicholas responds to Education Committee members’ questions about CEA’s Safe and Compassionate Learning Environment Initiatives.

Imagine later that day, the same student is now opening and slamming the door to the classroom. Again, he is not hurting himself or another student, so everyone must ignore it. Later still, he slams lockers.” Paley explained, “This is how my students have spent many days this school year. They have also had to endure a student calling me names on a daily basis and swearing at me. I have witnessed colleagues getting hit, yelled at, kicked, and bitten by students. My building has had several

everything has changed. “I’ve watched students destroy their classrooms,” she said. “Parents are saying their students are crying and afraid to go to school. I have felt the same way.” Lecco urged the committee to expand the scope of the SEL bill to provide more school psychologists and other critical supports. “I sit here as the voice of my fellow educators who are hopeful that we can restore public education.”

With the closure of the State Capitol Complex because of coronavirus concerns, the 2020 General Assembly session, which began on February 5, has been suspended until further notice. State legislative leaders are considering emergency legislation to address the public health crisis, the details of which—at press time—have yet to be announced. CEA has been in touch with lawmakers on various other issues before the state legislature and will keep members informed of any further developments or delays. At press time, no decision had been made regarding whether the session will resume before its May 6 deadline and/or whether a special session will be convened at a later time. For all the news and updates, visit cea.org and watch for CEA Action Alerts in your inbox.

Torrington teacher Carrie Cassady testifies about dramatic changes in student behavior she has seen in her 20-year career.