Teachers, students, parents, community members, religious leaders, and labor organizations are holding a rally tomorrow in Danbury in support of a fair state budget that works for all residents. The budget Governor Lamont has proposed freezes education funding levels and drastically cuts state aid, replacing it with federal funds.
Join us at Rogers Park Middle School in Danbury Wednesday, March 24 at 4:30 p.m. to call for a state budget that invests in schools, families, and communities and gives everyone the opportunity to succeed. (View flier.)
“We know that Connecticut has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the country; only New York and the District of Columbia outrank us,” says CEA President Jeff Leake. “We need a revenue system that provides the resources and funding so that ALL of our students can succeed and become productive citizens in a state with a well-educated workforce.”
Tomorrow speakers will share their personal stories about underfunded public schools and other struggles facing students and families.
Danbury High School Senior and student body president Rebecca D’Ostilio will speak about the inequities she sees at school every day. She says that funding must increase to meet the needs of students like her and her peers.
“I have a unique position at Danbury High School. I listen to students’ concerns every day. I see inequity firsthand, and I have even experienced it myself,” she says.
Many educators will speak about the negative effects underfunding has had on their students.
Luanelly Iglesias, a bilingual educator in Danbury and a single mother, has experienced the hardships caused by the state’s inequitable tax structure—both in her personal life and in her classroom. “I have seen many unmotivated and depressed students after their parents lost their jobs, couldn’t afford to pay their bills, and had to move in with friends or relatives,” she says.
Speakers at tomorrow’s event will include:
- Erin Daly, Pembroke Elementary School teacher and NEA Danbury president
- Jeff Leake, CEA President
- Dr. Kristy Zaleta, principal at Rogers Park Middle School and president of Administrators Union
- Rebecca D’Ostilio, Danbury High School senior and student body president
- State Senator Julie Kushner, Deputy President Pro Tempore representing Bethel, Danbury, New Fairfield, and Sherman
- Luanelly Iglesias, Rogers Park Middle School bilingual teacher
- Juanita Harris, Danbury High School school counselor
- Christina Sweeney, parent and Rogers Park Middle School PTO secretary
- Will Sweeney, Danbury High School freshman
- Lammia Agoora, Rogers Park Middle School math teacher
- Farley Santos, Danbury Councilman
- Carlos Cordova, parent and member of the Migrant Workers Collective and the Connecticut Domestic Workers Alliance
- Kathleen Nix, registered nurse, Danbury Nurses Union, Unit 47
- Oswaldo Chin, president of ATU 1622, Western CT Area Labor Federation delegate, parent, and Danbury community member
- Mary Jo Bohrman, Pembroke Elementary School instructional math coach
