January 9 marked the inauguration of a new governor and the beginning of the 2019 session of the Connecticut General Assembly. It’s likely to be a busy session with many issues for legislators to tackle over these next months.
CEA will be working closely with newly elected and appointed officials on legislation critical to you and your profession.
Subscribe to BlogCEA for updates and CEA Action Alerts on key CEA priorities this session.
Based on your feedback, some of the issues CEA is pursuing this session include protecting local public school funding, securing teacher pensions, ensuring safe classrooms, addressing school building health conditions, and protecting teachers’ rights.
The CEA Government Relations Department is also closely watching many proposals, such as those to weaken unions, establish school vouchers, and regionalize or consolidate school districts, the details of which have yet to be fully released. CEA staff is working to protect your ability to be effective with your students, improve working conditions, and advocate for funding to avoid increasing class sizes, prevent job reductions, and safeguard salary and benefits.
Click here for more information on CEA’s legislative priorities.
To start a dialogue this session around the issue of classroom safety, Bloomfield teachers recently met with their legislators at a school in their district.
Teachers shared their concerns over problematic student behavior in the classroom, giving eloquent and moving descriptions of how some students are significantly interfering with the learning environment in their classrooms and triggering trauma in the rest of the students. Many described physical injuries they have suffered as well as roadblocks to getting the appropriate resources and mental health supports for students.
“The legislators expressed shock over the level of aggression and disruption being described by these teachers and admitted that they were moved by their stories,” says CEA’s Robyn Kaplan-Cho, who organized the get-together. “It’s clear that these in-school meetings with legislators can be an effective way of having members’ voices heard.”
To arrange for a teacher-legislator get-together about key issues in your school, contact your local association president and CEA’s Chris Donovan or Robyn Kaplan-Cho.
