Feb-Mar 2022 Advisor

COMMUNICATING

6 CEA ADVISOR FEBRUARY–MARCH 2022

TEACHERS SPEAK OUT,‘BLACK OUT’ FOR SAFE SCHOOLS AS SCHOOLS PREPARED TO REOPEN AFTER THE WINTER BEGAN TO SURGE, AND THE N95 MASKS AND HOME TEST KITS PROMISED TO SCHOOL EMPLOYEES WERE NOWHERE Omicron swept through schools, causing major staff shortages. Students crowded into cafeterias and poorly ventilated spaces where teachers did their best to keep them safe and engaged. Buildings shut down for lack of educators, substitutes, bus drivers, and support staff. HOLIDAY BREAK, COVID CASES—PREDICTABLY—

newspapers and on CBS, ABC, and Fox. (See all the coverage at cea.org/cea-in-the-media .) Importantly, it also resulted in masks and test kits being delivered to every public school and distributed to every teacher and school staff member in the state. “I am really proud of our educators for standing up together and getting the job done,” said CEA President Kate Dias, who joined Windsor teachers and staff holding signs at their blackout. “They have shown up every single day to make sure all their kids are taken care of—despite the challenges they’ve faced—and they continue to show up for each other as well.” “As teachers, we are making thousands of decisions a day to keep our students safe and do what’s best for them,” said Connecticut 2021 Teacher of the Year Rochelle Brown, a Poquonock kindergarten teacher who participated

“All of these disruptions could have been avoided with better state support, including granting districts the option to switch temporarily to remote instruction until the surge passed,” said CEA President Kate Dias. “So many missteps reinforced deep concerns teachers and other school employees shared in a survey at the start of the year, and they prompted a statewide action to bring attention to the need for safe schools.” #Blackout4SafeSchools Results of the survey, conducted January 7-10, were made public on January 11. The following

day, thousands of educators and school staff flooded social media and joined in a statewide “blackout,” wearing black and walking into their school buildings together. “We’re two years into the pandemic, and we still don’t have what we need,” said Poquonock Elementary School teacher MistyHolke, a Windsor teacher who participated in the blackout. With her colleagues from every corner of the state, she hoped to draw attention to the need for better safety protocols in schools. Their strategy worked. The blackout, organized by CEA and other members of the Coalition of Board of Education Employee Unions (representing teachers, paraeducators, custodians, nurses, cafeteria workers, bus drivers/monitors, and support staff), made national news. Teachers carried signs that read “Keep COVID Out and Students In.” In addition to coverage by Newsweek , the Associated Press, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt , the blackout made headlines in local

in Windsor’s walk-in. “We’re thinking about them and their families, and our own families. We want to remain safe and keep our students in school, and we need the proper equipment to do that.” Blackouts and walk-ins took place in cities and towns throughout the state, including Ledyard, Stonington, Norwich, and Wallingford—where teachers had received N95 masks and testing kits but participated as a show of support for their colleagues and students in other districts. “As exhausted as they may be, teachers continue to pound the pavement and advocate for safe public schools,” said CEA Vice President Joslyn DeLancey, who joined Wallingford educators at their blackout. “We applaud them. We support them. And we demand that our state leaders and administrators do the same.”