Dec-20-Jan-21-Advisor

ORGANIZING

DECEMBER 2020 - JANUARY 2021 CEA ADVISOR 9

STRATFORD TEACHERS’ ADVOCACY LEADS TO SCHOOLS GOING FULLY REMOTE Battle for safe schools continues

A day after Stratford teachers held a widely publicized rally to protest a plan that would put them and their students back in school four days a week for in-person learning, the district changed course and decided to go all remote through early December. More than 100 Stratford teachers rallied with signs reading, “Safe Schools Save Lives” and “Let’s Be Smart: Six Feet Apart.” They formed socially distanced lines on both sides of Main Street, stretching from the train station to town hall, where Stratford’s Board of Education met later that evening. Various news

crews covered the event on television, online, and on the front pages of their papers. “I’m so proud of all our teachers who showed up for the rally,” said Stratford Education Association Co-Vice President Kristen Record. “We appreciate the community support and are glad the superintendent listened and made a commonsense decision.” “It was a very positive move,” said SEA President Michael Fiorello. “It was sensible and based on students’ and families’ travel plans over Thanksgiving.” Previously, teachers succeeded at slowing down the phase-in plan for in-person learning by engaging in a letter-writing

In interviews with reporters, CEA President Jeff Leake emphasizes that schools must take greater safety precautions or move to all-distance learning.

campaign to the superintendent. The battle is not yet over, however, as plans for in-person learning for early elementary grades, students with special needs, and English learners resumed in December—as did hybrid learning in other grades—in spite of soaring COVID rates and the district’s refusal of remote teaching requests by vulnerable teachers. These moves were met with renewed protests from SEA members. Pushing for adequate protection, Stratford teachers launched a #RedforEd campaign on December 8,

wearing #RedforEd T-shirts and CEA-designed buttons and entering and exiting school buildings at the same time while following social distancing protocols, and engaging in collective action by working only within their normal contractual hours. “Our collective strength and solidarity show that we are all in this together,” Fiorello said. “CEA continues to work with us to inform the Board of Education and administrators of our needs and expectations and helps keep the media spotlight on our issues.”

REALITIES OF PANDEMIC TEACHING Teachers Share Concerns During CEA Listening Forums

the challenges of teachers in other districts but have been able to secure additional planning time, reducing some of their stress. “I’m grateful to CEA and our UniServ Rep,” she said. “Teachers wanted to sign the MOU as it was, but our UniServ Rep persuaded us to hold off and get more planning time in there, which we were able to do.” A 30-year veteran high school teacher working under a hybrid model said he feels like a first-year educator again. Given that he must juggle the needs of in-person and distance learners, he says that, academically, “We are way behind where we’d like to be, but I’d rather err on the side of students grasping the concept. It’s very tough, because we have a lot less time than we used to have.” A kindergarten teacher who is teaching fully in person stressed that all teachers need more planning time right now. “I need time to make individual bags of manipulatives,” she explained. CEA Director of Affiliate Services and Member Training Marilyn Mathes told forum attendees that negotiating what reopening looks like in districts around the state has been a huge challenge for local leaders and CEA staff, who continue advocating every day on behalf of students and teachers. “Local association leaders and staff have worked incredibly hard this fall,” she said. “Most of our local leaders teach full time and make time from early morning to late at night to respond to members’ emails and phone calls. We are incredibly thankful for their advocacy and dedication to the work of the union.”

At listening forums CEA held this fall, members shared the challenges they are facing, which include being denied remote teaching assignments despite having chronic medical conditions, teaching online and in- person learners simultaneously, and having insufficient contact tracing and communication about positive COVID cases. The concerns members expressed through the forums as well as through daily communication with local leaders and CEA leaders and staff led to Safe and Successful Schools Now, a report released in November by CEA, AFT-Connecticut, and other education unions (see page 6). “We know this is an incredibly challenging year for teachers,” says CEA President Jeff Leake. “We are advocating at the state level and in districts across the state for safe schools for all students and teachers. When safety protocols cannot be met, schools must switch to all- remote learning.” Leake adds, “We’re making sure members’ concerns inform the positions we take as an association. I encourage all members to participate in future CEA surveys, forums, meetings, and collective actions.” During the virtual forums, a teacher shared that her school provided no PPE or plexiglass barriers for teachers. “We don’t know where any of the state money that our district received went,” she said. “Teachers are experiencing burnout, and we don’t trust the contact tracing process.” Another teacher said that she and her colleagues are facing many of

Left to right, SEA Co-Vice President Kristen Record, SEA President Michael Fiorello, and CEA Secretary Stephanie Wanzer were among the teacher leaders lining Stratford’s Main Street.

Hamden Teachers Win Shift to Remote Instruction

Facing steadily rising numbers of COVID-19 cases and crippling shortages in school staffing, Hamden Board of Education members listened to the more than 100 teachers who submitted letters and public comment during a virtual meeting and voted to shift schools to full distance learning between the Thanksgiving holiday and January 19. “It goes without saying that this unprecedented time has changed public education as we know it,” said Hamden Education Association President Diane Marinaro. “The Connecticut positivity rate has continued to be troubling to all. Schools across the state, including Hamden schools, have documented COVID cases and have had to quarantine individuals, groups, or entire school buildings in order to keep others safe and healthy. On many days there are not enough teachers available in a building to cover classes. Students then report to other teachers’ classrooms, and students and teachers are being exposed to others they would not normally be in contact with.” Hamden teachers and administrators agreed that temporarily shifting to remote learning was the safest option, and several nearby districts in COVID red zones had already made similar decisions. While many community members opposed the shift, the board ultimately sided with the hundreds of teachers who attended the virtual board meeting and chose what they deemed to be the safest, most responsible option. “Decisions such as this are not made lightly,” said CEA President Jeff Leake. “They impact students, teachers, and entire communities. Of primary importance here are the well-being of our school communities and the viability of their instructional models. Attempting to maintain in-person instruction in schools that are understaffed, with rising levels of COVID and related quarantines, is unsustainable and simply unsafe.” “The common theme from Hamden teachers has been to go to remote learning and place everyone’s health and safety above all else,” said Marinaro. “Though not an easy decision to make, the board did listen to over 100 pieces of correspondence from teachers, and I am relieved that they voted to approve.”