CEA Advisor_April 2022

ADVOCATING

6 CEA ADVISOR APRIL 2022

Deadline to pass key bills for students and teachers fast approaching HAVE YOU CALLED , EMAILED YOUR LEGISLATORS TODAY? watered down if lawmakers don’t see the urgent need for them this session.” Various proposals before legislators would establish a stronger system of mental health supports for students, better air quality in schools, a more secure retirement for teachers, incentives for retaining educators, and more. “These are all urgent and long overdue, and now is the time to call and write to your legislators,” says Dias. “Press them to bring key bills up for a vote—and to vote them into law this year.”

Before Connecticut’s General Assembly session wraps up at midnight on May 4, CEA is pushing to get key legislation over the finish line, and your voice is critical to that effort. “We have important bills before legislators right now, with bipartisan support behind them,” says CEA President Kate Dias, “but a lot can happen—or not happen—in these final weeks. Bills that don’t get called up for a vote on the House or Senate floor before the clock runs down will not become laws. Bills that fail to get enough votes in either chamber will not pass. Proposals could fall short of getting the funding necessary to implement them if the legislature’s Appropriations Committee doesn’t act. In other words, even bills with broad support among legislators could die or get INDOOR AIR QUALITY Legislation strongly promoted by CEA would establish standards to address poor indoor air quality, inadequate HVAC systems, and excessive temperatures and humidity in school buildings—and provide the funding necessary to implement those changes. It would, among other things • Define indoor air quality as “the overall potential health factors within a school facility, including air quality, mold levels, and other potentially harmful toxins.” • Establish acceptable temperature and humidity ranges (68°–76°F; 20 %–60 % humidity levels) as well as HVAC standards • Monitor and ensure compliance • Provide additional whistleblower protection for employees who report indoor air quality concerns Strong indoor air quality legislation is crucial in preventing chronic illness and instructional loss caused by excessive school temperatures, humidity, and mold, as shown in this Stamford classroom. SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL COMMUNITIES Legislators are considering several bills that would build successful school communities, and CEA leaders, staff, and members have testified on legislation that • Provides social emotional supports and behavioral interventions for students • Ensures that ratios of social workers, school counselors, speech pathologists, and other certified staff meet national standards • Amplifies teacher voice in determining SEL supports, behavioral interventions, and curricular decisions • Requires boards of education to complete a needs assessment each year identifying resources necessary to address student trauma in their schools • Prohibits dual instruction, where a single educator must simultaneously teach remote and in-person students • Requires six years of classroom teaching experience for administrator certification and 10 years to serve as a building principal CEA has also put forth proposals that would help recruit and retain educators and revitalize the profession by providing uninterrupted prep time, duty-free lunch periods, adequate opportunities for teacher collaboration, streamlined and improved teacher evaluation, developmentally appropriate curricula and an emphasis on the value of play in the early grades, and more. Speaking to some of these points as well as others, Lesley Keener, a 35-year veteran Newington teacher, testified on several proposals before the legislature’s Education Committee designed to build successful school communities. She told legislators: I almost made a career change to the private sector. Teachers are throwing in the towel across the country. It has always been a challenging career, but the last few years have been especially so.

Read up on CEA’s legislative priorities and testimony at cea.org/cea-top-legislation-action/ .

I’ve experienced firsthand and listened to so many colleagues and parents share their increasing concerns about children’s mental, physical, and behavioral health and well-being. We are putting too much stress on our young people, and they are telling us so. They are throwing chairs, destroying school property, striking out, and crying for help. We continue to have achievement gaps, low literacy rates statewide, and an increase in teen suicides, vaping, and drug use. These bills take important steps to address Connecticut children’s mental and behavioral health needs and safeguard their physical and emotional well-being. We definitely need more support staff, services, and funding in the area of mental and behavioral health. But can these bills also help us unearth the tangled roots of why children are struggling more than before? As a kindergarten teacher, I can attest to what is happening in the early grades. What happens to kindergartners greatly affects them in the older grades. We have lost our focus on the development of oral language, critical thinking, coping, and executive functioning skills because of the pressure and focus on academic skills at too young an age, weakening the foundation for cognitive, emotional, and physical growth. To boot, we have curricula and assessments based on national standards and norms, yet we still are the only state bringing four-year-olds into kindergarten. We have to look at how and what we are teaching along with how children learn best—at all levels—and this may help reduce the number of mental and behavioral health challenges we are seeing now.

We are putting

too much stress on our young people and they are

telling us so.” LESLEY KEENER