Summer-2020-Advisor

SURVEYING

SUMMER 2020 CEA ADVISOR 3

NEW SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS TEACHERS’ CONCERNS FOR SCHOOL SAFETY, FUNDING

In a statewide CEA poll on school reopening completed by nearly 16,000 Connecticut educators in mid-July, 100 percent of respondents said it is important for teachers to be part of any school reopening plans. Their responses underscore the need to strengthen the state’s reopening guidance with CEA’s Safe Learning Plan, which provides detailed recommendations for safety, equity, and funding. Among other things, the plan calls for delayed openings, staggered schedules, hybrid learning, and guaranteed funding to ensure healthy and safe schools for all. (See pages 8-9.) While they are eager to return to their classrooms, nearly three- quarters of Connecticut educators (74 percent) strongly oppose reopening at full capacity based on current trends. They prefer either a full return to distance learning (46 percent) or a hybrid model, with a mixture of in-school and distance learning (39 percent). More than two-thirds (68 percent) say their districts do not have the funding needed to implement the necessary safety protocols, and an additional one in four teachers are unsure. Sixty-two percent indicate that there is inadequate airflow and ventilation in their schools, and nearly one in three (29 percent) have considered leaving public education because of the pandemic.  Getting it right “We need to listen to the concerns of our educators, parents, community members, and health experts during a life-threatening pandemic,” says

CEA President Jeff Leake. “We can’t expect to reopen our schools in the usual fashion, especially as new evidence demonstrates that children ten years and older spread the virus as readily as adults.”   The fact that nearly 16,000 teachers completed CEA’s survey, he adds, is a strong indication of the importance of this issue. Teachers overwhelmingly support these and other measures:  • Requiring students and educators to follow CDC recommendations for regular handwashing (99 percent) • Having adequate supplies of hand sanitizer available throughout buildings (99 percent) • Limiting groupings of students and educators in a way that reflects schools’ ability to physically distance six feet apart, including in classrooms and gyms, 100% SAY I T I S IMPORTANT FOR TEACHERS TO BE

and on school buses (97 percent)  • Providing and requiring masks for educators and students (96 percent) and prohibiting visitor access (96 percent) • COVID-19 testing protocols at each school (95 percent)  • Running buses at half capacity or less (87 percent) and hiring bus monitors to help ensure social distancing and mask-wearing on school buses (91 percent) Challenges to implementation In spite of strong support for mask-wearing for students and educators, 90 percent of teachers overall anticipate it will be difficult for students to keep masks on all day; of those, 54 percent say doing so will be very difficult. An even greater number, 96 percent, expect challenges in implementing social distancing and other necessary health practices throughout the day.  “We know the importance of following safety protocols, but we also know that our students, especially our youngest learners, are going to have

special and general education classrooms all expressed similar concerns about their students’ ability to follow safety protocols: • 96 percent of elementary school teachers anticipate keeping masks on students will be difficult, and • Adherence to safety protocols is expected to create challenges at the middle and high school levels as well. Ensuring that students maintain social distance throughout the school day is expected to be difficult, according to 96 percent of middle school teachers and 94 percent of high 98 percent believe it will be difficult for children to follow social distancing guidelines.   school teachers. The same is true of mask-wearing, according to 88 percent of middle school teachers and 81 percent of high school teachers. • Special education teachers also say keeping masks on students (94 percent) and social distancing (97 percent) will be difficult for their students “Our dedicated educators are looking forward to starting a new school year, and we owe it to them to make sure it’s done safely,” says Leake, adding that state funding and flexibility will be critical to ensuring schools can implement hybrid plans that allow robust teaching and learning and keep everyone safe. View full survey results at cea.org.

PART OF ANY SCHOOL

REOPENING PLANS

extreme difficulties keeping their masks on, keeping their hands to themselves, and staying away from their friends and teachers,” Leake explains. Teachers at every level—elementary,

74% strongly oppose reopening at full capacity

say districts do not have funding needed to implement safety protocols 68%

middle, and high school—in both

IN THIS ISSUE

WAS THAT YOU WHO DIDN’T GET CEA’S SCHOOL REOPENING SURVEY?

4 • PROTECTING In the midst of a global health crisis, teachers—especially those who are medically vulnerable—approach school reopening with trepidation. Read how three teachers have worked with their union to seek accommodations and protection. 5 • ADVOCATING After an in-person roundtable discussion CEA organized between teachers and Governor Lamont, the governor announced additional flexibility for school reopening plans. 6-7 • RALLYING In a car rally organized by CEA and AFT CT, thousands of teachers around the state drove the message home that in any school reopening plan, safety must come first. 8-9 • GUIDING CEA’s Safe Learning Plan spells out what protections and contingencies must be in place when school starts this fall, ranging from bus transportation to school air quality and PPE. 10-11 • INFORMING What protections do you have when it comes to COVID-related unemployment, disability, and leave? CEA has rounded up a list of frequently asked questions and answers.

12 • RE-EVALUATING Like many teachers with underlying medical conditions, longtime Canton

teacher Susanne Russell weighed the risks of returning to in-person instruction and ultimately chose to retire. Read what factored into her decision and how she received help from her union to get the process in motion. Also read how Senator Chris Murphy and his Congressional colleagues are working to get more federal dollars into public schools. 13 • REPRESENTING The first-ever virtual NEA RA brought together education leaders, advocates, and exemplars to set a strategic plan for the coming year. Notable attendees included former Vice President Joe Biden and Georgia Representative Stacey Abrams, and video tributes to NEA’s outgoing president poured in from former First Ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, Daily Show host Trevor Noah, and others. 14-15 • CEA-RETIRED For teachers retiring in 2020, the end of a lifelong career was marked by closed schools and empty classrooms. Read how three colleagues whose combined experience adds up to more than a century were honored by the community they had helped raise. 16 • SUPPORTING Read how all Teachers of the Year in one district came together to organize a Black Lives Matter event with the support of their community and police.

THOUGHT SO! DO WE HAVE YOUR CORRECT EMAIL ADDRESS? DON’T MISS OUT! Update your membership profile and email address by logging into NEA Ed Communities at mynea360.org . First-time visitors must create a personal profile.

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