Feb-Mar 2022 Advisor

ADVOCATING

FEBRUARY–MARCH 2022 CEA ADVISOR 9

“I’ve been teaching for 23 years at my school, and in the past, whenever we’ve brought up concerns about excessive heat, the response has been, ‘It’s only a few days,’” a middle school teacher said. “It’s not just a few days. Kids get headaches. They have to go to the nurse. Teachers get migraines, too. Kids can’t learn, and teachers can’t teach. It’s inhumane.” In response to a question from Rep. Palm, teachers confirmed that the challenge of extreme heat and humidity in schools is getting worse. Schools from

the 1960s and 70s were not built with the temperatures of 2022 in mind, and they do not have air conditioning. “Teachers are overwhelmed,” one educator shared. “Between hot buildings, more and more expectations being heaped on teachers, supporting the significant social and emotional needs of children, and being caught in the middle of political debates, we’re exhausted. On top of that we have to comply with teacher evaluation systems that don’t meaningfully impact our teaching or student learning yet require hours and hours of jumping through hoops and data entry time.” “As a society we need to rejigger our

CEA-Marlborough President and kindergarten teacher Amy Farrior participates in an evening Zoom meeting with legislators. required six months of physical therapy. “It was scary,” the teacher said. “I still have PTSD and physical problems resulting from the attack. The safety of teachers should be foremost.” A high school teacher said her district has had many teachers leave the profession earlier than they had planned. “We thought teaching last year, half in and half out, was the hardest year of teaching we could experience, but the behaviors this year from students—they’re out of control.”

Outdated HVAC systems have led to chronic mold issues in some schools—a problem that CEA’s legislative agenda seeks to address.

priorities,” Senator Needleman said. “You guys are really heroes. The situation on the ground, sadly, is what it is. We need to do better, and I’m committed to doing better to the extent we can get there.” Rep. Carney said he would like to see progress on the issues teachers shared. “The one that’s particularly alarming to me is students attacking teachers. We need to address that.” A middle school teacher expressed frustration after attending board of education meetings where the primary focus of many meetings has been masks. “These things teachers are concerned about, the lack of supports for students, the lack of AC, are not a priority for our elected town officials,” he said. “I have 25 kids, several with IEPs and several who are English learners. I don’t have a para in my room at any point, so I can only give each of those students a couple of minutes of individual attention, at best. This is so hard. I’ve been teaching for 10 years—why is the school board talking about completely different matters?” Rep. Palm thanked teachers for communicating what is going on in schools. “I appreciate you elucidating all these things that are really on your minds.”

On top of responding to the stresses and upheavals in students’ lives and how those present in the classroom, the teacher said she and her colleagues are being asked to teach additional classes and take on more responsibilities because of a teacher shortage. After a math teacher retired at the beginning of the year, other math teachers in her building were asked to teach an extra class to make up for that missing position, and now language teachers are being asked to teach an extra class after a Spanish teacher left.

Teachers are overwhelmed. Between hot buildings, more and more expectations being heaped on teachers, supporting the significant social and emotional needs of children, and being caught in the middle of political debates, we’re exhausted.”

“I have a very dedicated colleague telling me every day, ‘Maybe now is the time to leave,’ and she wasn’t thinking that two years ago. We need to work to retain teachers. I don’t even know what’s going to happen next year at our school. I’m very concerned.” When teaching is already stressful, extreme heat makes everything that much worse. An elementary teacher told legislators that the heat in her classroom is extremely oppressive from August through October and in May and June. “We don’t have air conditioning, and these poor little eight-year-olds are coming in from recess dripping. They’re nauseated and have headaches— these poor kids are so uncomfortable.”

See CEA’s full legislative agenda at cea.org/teacher-priorities

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order to do that we must have teachers in classrooms. They’re the single greatest asset to make change in our school districts.” Teacher retirement Also testifying before the Appropriations Committeewas CEA-Retired President WilliamMurray, who told legislators, “We are pleased to see that Governor Lamont has proposed to fully fund the annual teachers’ retirement system contribution, increase funding toward the unfunded liability using surplus funds, and fully fund the retiree health insurance fund.” Murray, who also serves as vice chair of the Teachers’ Retirement Board, added that an increase to the health insurance subsidy for retired teachers is long overdue, as the subsidy amounts were set 26 years ago and have not been raised since, even as health insurance costs have more than doubled. “On behalf of our organization and all retired teachers who fall into this category, I urge committeemembers to consider increasing the subsidies.”

To ensure our students receive the education they deserve, we must elect pro-public education candidates who will stand up for our students and our profession. The NEA Fund for Children and Public Education is fueled by educators like you, coming together to advocate for real leaders at the federal and state level, regardless of political party. Elected officials decide policies on everything from the amount of funding our schools receive to teacher pensions and healthcare. Donations to the NEA Fund are entirely voluntary and support federal and state candidates, political parties, and political committees. Donate today at educationvotes.nea.org/donate .

During the legislative session the dates for public hearings and votes are announced only days in advance. Watch for CEA Action Alerts sent to your email inbox letting you know when it’s time to mobilize and contact your legislators about issues fundamental to teaching and learning. Public hearings are underway at the legislature and will continue through late March. Hearings are taking place via Zoom again this session, making it easier for educators who’d like to testify to do so. Some of the first public hearings have been on the governor’s budget proposal, and CEA President Kate Dias testified before legislators on the Appropriations Committeeon several aspects of the budget pertaining to students, teachers, and schools. “The governor’s budget is a good first step in terms of improving conditions for our teaching as well as students’ learning, because those things are really one and the same,” Dias told legislators. “We do think there is more that can be done to revitalize our schools. Really looking at the teacher shortage, the attrition, much like everywhere across the country we’re looking at nearly 50 %

of our staff considering leaving the profession. That is a significant issue we need to act on now.” Dias said the state needs to invest in schools, particularly when it comes to students’ mental health. “The mental health crisis among students is continuing to grow, and we need to meet that need, but that’s going to take money, and that’s going to take people,” she said. “We need to bring down those class sizes, those ratios of students to social workers, counselors, and psychologists. There’s a lot of opportunity for us to support education and provide our students with what they need, but in

STAY CURRENT WITH THE CEA DAILY

There’s a lot to keep up on in 2022 with constant changes to pandemic protocols and schools in the news daily. That’s why we’ve launched the CEAdaily. The Daily will give you all the latest news from CEA, including stories about what your legislators are up to at the State Capitol during the 2022 legislative session. Subscribe today at cea.org/daily .

Scan to read CEA’s full legislative agenda.