Summer-2020-Advisor

RALLYING

6 CEA ADVISOR SUMMER 2020

TEACHERS TAKE THEIR MESSAGE TO THE STREETS IN SAFETY FIRST CAR CARAVAN RALLIES ACROSS THE STATE Call for safety, equity, funding, and flexibility in reopening plans F rom Stamford to Stonington, Hamden to Hartford, and nearly two pandemic, we owe it to our students and educators to put their health and safety first.”

Driving the message home CEA urges the state to adopt the actions outlined in CEA’s Safe Learning Plan, which focuses on health and safety standards, including CDC protocols and commonsense approaches to keeping our school communities safe. (See story on pages 8-9.) Bolton music teacher Dan Ayer, who was at the Hartford rally, said, “Teachers know that the best learning happens in person, but the current plan is not safe for kids or staff. We need to send a message to the governor and the public that the state must reevaluate its priorities.” “As educators, we cannot consider moving forward with a plan that will compromise the health of our students and staff,” said Peter Borofsky, president of the Vernon Education Association, whose members traveled from Rockville High School to Lake Street School, passing every school building in the district. “We should not reopen,” said Borofsky, “until we can provide this basic safety requirement to our schools.” Cheshire art teacher Jillian Puckett, who attended the car rally in Hartford, said she and her colleagues were there to raise public awareness about myriad school reopening issues. “We feel supported in our town, but we are hamstrung by the lack of support at the state and federal levels.” “Reopening schools safely will cost significantly more than in pre- COVID times,” said Bridgeport Education Association President Ana Batista, noting, “We are a high- poverty district, and without additional funding, our schools cannot implement the CDC safety protocols necessary to ensure safe teaching and learning environments. Plus, when students return to school, they will have increased needs due to

dozen towns in between, teachers, students, parents, and community members joined School Safety First Car Caravans demanding health precautions and hybrid learning for school reopening plans. “Nothing is more important than the safety of our students, our teachers, and our school communities,” said CEA President Jeff Leake. “CEA and AFT Connecticut organized the car caravans to amplify teachers’ voices against state plans to reopen schools in person and at 100 percent capacity while the coronavirus is still not fully under control.” While teacher car parades were in full force, the governor announced that the state would agree to some flexibility in school reopening plans, allowing for hybrid learning models in some cases. CEA and AFT CT continue to press for safety for students, teachers, and staff in all schools. Drawing teachers from multiple districts, the largest caravan was in Hartford, where 1,000 vehicles traveled to the home of Governor Ned Lamont. Car caravans also traveled through two dozen other cities and towns, including Bethel, Bridgeport, Brookfield, Danbury, East Hartford, Greenwich, Haddam, Hamden, Naugatuck, Norwalk, Norwich, Putnam, Seymour, Stamford, Stonington, Stratford, Vernon, Willimantic, Wolcott, and Woodbridge. Cars were decorated with signs that read, “I can teach from a distance, but not from a coffin,” and, “I don’t accept incomplete work. Please resubmit your plan with necessary revisions.” “No one wants to return to school more than our dedicated educators,” Leake explained, “but during a global

Berlin teacher Jessica Ramy and her daughter Jaclyn and New Britain teacher Jennifer Kumnick and her daughters Alex and Avery prepare to take part in the Hartford car caravan.

learning loss, trauma from the pandemic, and time away from school. They will need additional resources and supports.” well-being of our students and educators has to be our first priority,” “The safety and

Stonington Education Association

President Michael Freeman agreed. “We can’t implement CDC safety protocols, including smaller class sizes, sanitizing stations, daily disinfecting, social distancing guidelines, and more, without additional funding.” Stonington teachers participated in a car rally that wound its way through Mystic and Pawcatuck, starting and ending at Stonington High School. Amity High School social studies teacher Leeann Browett, who participated in the Hartford rally, said, “It makes my heart happy to see so many teachers united together.” Her goal was to persuade the governor to give teachers and students the same safety measures that have been allowed for consumers and businesses in Connecticut’s slow, phased-in reopening. Schools are not experiments “So many of us are not comfortable with the plans put out so far, and we need to keep getting the governor’s attention on this,” said Mansfield middle school math teacher Sue Kamienski, who attended the rally with Mansfield music teacher Liz Whiteley. “The governor so far has been great in his response to

COVID-19, and we need to extend that to our schools and make it safe for teachers and kids to come back. It’s not feasible for all students to return at once.” “With less than a month before school starts, we still don’t know what’s happening or how our schools will get the funding needed to implement CDC safety protocols to keep us all safe,” said Hamden Education Association President Diane Marinaro. “Hamden is looking to go back with a hybrid model. If we have to go back, we need to know that every step is being taken to protect our health and safety. The state needs to recognize the funding issues so that all students and staff are protected.” Dozens of Hamden teachers participated in a car rally that traveled through local neighborhoods and ended at Hamden Middle School. See hundreds of photos and videos of School Safety First car caravans at cea.org and on CEA’s Facebook ( facebook.com/CTEdAssoc ) and Flickr ( flickr.com/photos/ceapics ) pages.

The Hartford car caravan drew more than 1,000 teachers as well as CEA leaders and staff, including CEA President Jeff Leake (far right).