CEA Advisor_April 2022

APRIL 2022 CEA ADVISOR 3

IN THIS ISSUE

News Briefs

Meet CEA’s New Legislative Coordinator CEA Government Relations welcomes Louis Rosado Burch On February 22, CEA welcomed Louis Rosado Burch as its new legislative coordinator. With the 2022 legislative session underway, Rosado Burch has been working with members and lawmakers to advance multiple teacher priorities, including improving indoor air quality in school buildings, building successful school communities, supporting students’ mental health, and enhancing the teaching profession. Prior to joining CEA, he spent more than 14 years as an environmental advocate, fighting for progressive legislation to expand access to recycling, protect Connecticut’s

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LEADING With some excellent pro-education bills on the table late this legislative session and more opportunities opening up for teachers to collaborate and make change, there is reason for hope even among the hurdles still ahead. We need everyone’s help to get across the finish line. What do you do when you’re faced with angry accusations or misinformation about what you teach? That was one of the questions taken up at CEA’s What’s Real in Education forum that brought educators, administrators, and lawmakers together for a candid conversation. With only weeks left of the legislative session, CEA is making a strong push for measures to create safe, healthy schools, retain teachers, and help educators retire with dignity. Your efforts can get those bills over the finish line. What You Don’t See is CEA’s social media campaign revealing the challenges facing students and teachers and rallying legislators for their support. Take a look behind the scenes. New teachers from around the state gathered for a day of free professional learning and face-to-face conversations with mentors and peers at CEA’s 2022 Early Career Educator Conference. See who’s running for CEA Secretary, CEA Treasurer, and NEA Director Alternate. Connecticut teachers have a legal duty to report potential child abuse or neglect. A failure to do so, or a delay in reporting, puts students at risk and has serious consequences for teachers— ranging from job termination to criminal prosecution. CEA’s legal experts explain what you must report and to whom, as well as how, when, and why. Reserve your spot at this year’s CEA-R Spring Meeting as well as county meetings happening throughout the state. The Connecticut Education Foundation put a new spin on Read Across America this year by inviting special guests— including basketball legend Scott Burrell—to join Connecticut students aboard the big blue reading bus.

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Louis Rosado Burch

water resources, and promote a healthy environment. His legislative achievements include keeping school athletic fields and public playgrounds free of harmful pesticides, passage of a statewide ban on plastic checkout bags, modernizing Connecticut’s container deposit law (a.k.a. “the Bottle Bill”), and many others. A graduate of SUNY Stony Brook, where he majored in sociology and political science, Rosado Burch completed an apprenticeship with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Boston before finishing his undergraduate education. When he is not in Hartford advocating for educators, Rosado Burch is making music or spending time with his dog, Dewey. An avid hiker, traveler, martial arts practitioner, and guitar player, he enjoys hiking across New England, exploring our national parks, and visiting with family in New York and Puerto Rico.

6-7 ADVOCATING

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Meet CEA Members Running for Office, Get a First Look

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at Upcoming CEA Business

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Join CEA leaders and county directors for a virtual business meeting on April 25. Hear from colleagues running for CEA and NEA offices in May, and get a first glimpse of the business at hand at the annual CEA Representative Assembly. Packed into this one-hour meeting is a budget review, proposed constitution and bylaws changes, proposed resolutions, and other CEA business. All CEA members are welcome.

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Don’t Be a Statistic Name your life insurance beneficiary today 47 % That’s how many CEA members have not registered or named a beneficiary for the free life insurance available to them through NEA’s Complimentary Life Insurance program. As a CEA member, you are also a member of NEA—which entitles you to Complimentary Life Insurance issued by The Prudential Insurance Company of America in your name, including $1,000 of term life insurance and up to $5,000 of accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) coverage. Naming a beneficiary is a way of ensuring your loved ones are cared for after you’re gone and your life insurance benefit gets to them quickly. A beneficiary can be one or more people, a trustee of a trust you’ve created, a charity, or your estate. If you don’t name a beneficiary, your life insurance benefit will automatically go to your estate—essentially the things that make up your net worth, including any debts—before any family or friends. When this happens, it can slow down the payout process significantly and may reduce the amount provided to your loved ones.

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Newington teacher Elsa Batista ensures that sons Nicholas and Christian are protected through NEA Complimentary Life Insurance.

If you’ve experienced life changes since your last update—think divorce, marriage, adoption—you may want to update your beneficiaries. It doesn’t matter if you’ve updated your will to include your new spouse; if someone else is listed as your life insurance beneficiary, that person will receive your life insurance benefit. This is because beneficiaries named in a life insurance policy can override who is named in a will, making it crucial that you regularly check your beneficiary list to ensure it’s up to date. Don’t miss out on this no-cost benefit offered to every CEA member. It takes only a few minutes to choose or update your information, which can help ensure your loved ones are cared for and your wishes are clear. Sign up or check your beneficiary status today.

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR CEA MEMBERSHIP! Through Buyer’s Edge and dozens of other CEA Member Benefits partners, teachers get discounts on everything from automobiles to home appliances to homeowners insurance. See what you can save! Visit cea.org/discounts today.

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