169 out of 169.
Dead last.
That’s how Danbury’s education priorities and realities, compared to the rest of the state, have been described for years.
With a growing student population crammed into crowded hallways and onto classroom floors (for lack of desks), Danbury has long faced an education crisis. Between city leaders rejecting teachers’ contracts and the state falling short on ECS funding, recruiting teachers to work in the district has been a challenge. Keeping them there? Even tougher.
All that is changing, however, and teachers can take credit for leading the charge.
“Danbury schools have seen a steady exodus of teachers tired of the uphill battle,” says elementary school teacher and NEA-Danbury President Erin Daly. “Addressing the deprioritization of education in our city has meant taking a focused, organized approach, and that’s exactly what our members, with help from CEA, did. Over several election cycles and collective bargaining cycles, we worked hard to get a contract that respected our members and to elect town officials who would support us and our students. We talked to each other, did surveys, looked at what wasn’t working in our schools, and made a plan to fix it.”
With assistance from CEA UniServ Rep Tom Kennedy, NEA-Danbury this year put together a teacher contract that would keep top talent in their district. When the board of education gathered ahead of contract ratification, NEA-Danbury showed up too, by the hundreds. They came wearing union colors and bearing union signs.
“We come to the table ready to partner, ready to collaborate, and ready to make progress,” social studies teacher and NEA-Danbury Vice President Julian Shafer told the board. “This is about making sure every child who walks into a Danbury classroom tomorrow morning is greeted by experienced, valued, supported, and respected teachers who are able to give their very best because their district is behind them.”
The root of the problem
From overcrowding to underfunding, critical issues in Danbury schools stretch back decades. A key problem has been the withdrawal of incentives to retain educators.
In the past, teachers who stayed in the district were rewarded for their work and dedication. But in 2011, the district sunsetted longevity payments, meaning teachers hired after then would no longer be eligible for these payments. Many left the district—or the profession—for better salaries with less stress.
Before going into contract mediation this year, Kennedy requested information on all educators who chose to leave Danbury schools in 2025. Setting aside normal retirements, he found that all but two educators who resigned were hired after 2011—in other words, they didn’t qualify for longevity pay. Longevity pay, he found, had been important to teacher retention, and eliminating it was helping drive educators away. It was time to bring it back.
NEA-Danbury’s new contract stipulates that anyone hired after July 1, 2014, will receive a $2,400 bump in their salary after 15 years of service, and a second bump after 25 years. All teachers will also receive pay increases totaling more than 13% over three years.
But better pay wasn’t all that NEA-Danbury members were asking for. Surveys found that they were satisfied with their health insurance program and wanted to avoid any changes to that plan design.
“The norm in many districts has been to decrease the board of education contribution to the plan or increase members’ deductibles,” Kennedy explains, “and we were able to avoid that.”
After salary and insurance, surveys revealed a major priority for NEA-Danbury members was reducing mandatory time spent on after-school meetings and ensuring those meetings had an agenda.
“On days that they participate in meetings after school, Danbury educators often arrive at work when it’s dark and leave at dark,” says Kennedy. “We were able to reduce mandatory meeting time by 30 minutes and ensure every meeting has an agenda.”
In addition, NEA-Danbury has established what Kennedy believes is the state’s first contractual definition of assault in a teacher collective bargaining agreement. This makes it easier for educators to retain their full salary if they are out on workers’ compensation as a result of a student assault.
“Having a concrete definition means there is no guessing or grieving the issue,” says Kennedy. “Teachers who cannot work because of student assault do not forfeit any part of their income; they are made whole.”
Fruits of their labor
NEA-Danbury’s new three-year contract, ratified overwhelmingly by both members and their board of education earlier this month, goes into effect July 1, 2026.
The only interruptions to the ratification process, says Kennedy, were rounds of applause.
“As I revisit the work we did, I’m struck by the depth of what we accomplished together,” says Daly, who was part of a 13-member negotiations team led by veteran Danbury special education teacher and union leader Rick Vaughn. “We’re bringing back a strong agreement to our members—one we can all feel confident in and truly proud of. Beyond the financial gains, we secured the first meaningful language changes in many contracts. That is no small feat. We moved the needle in ways that will genuinely improve working conditions and help us retain the incredible teachers at the heart of everything we do.”
She adds, “This success was the direct result of years of work by our local association and our members’ dedication, persistence, and collaboration. I thank them for the countless hours, careful strategy, and passion they brought to these negotiations. Together, we set a new standard. The way everyone leaned in, supported each other, and pushed through the tough moments and the tedious ones—it was inspiring to watch and even more inspiring to be part of.”
Indeed, the new contract represents the work that went into negotiating the last three or four contracts. It came about because of the local association’s push to connect members to that bargaining process.
Laying the groundwork
NEA-Danbury’s success this fall would not have been possible without years of member involvement in legislative races and municipal elections, including door-knocking, teacher action committees, evaluating and grading their candidates, and other types of political advocacy.
“Today, Danbury has twice as much ECS funding as it did 20 years ago, in large part thanks to legislative champions we helped elect and who stand up for us, like Senator Julie Kushner, Representatives Farley Santos, Ken Gucker, Bob Godfrey, and others,” says Kennedy. “The city once had a mayor who rejected the teachers’ contract. Since then, teachers have helped elect a new mayor, Roberto Alves, and have gotten education allies seated on their board of education.”
He adds, “With teacher shortages plaguing so many school districts, the singular focus on recruiting new educators is understandable but shortsighted. If we turn some of that attention to retaining the excellent teachers we have, recruitment goals will be easier to meet.”
