The legislative session ends on May 8, and while CEA continues to advocate for many education priorities we need your help to push for legislation guaranteeing fair due process.
“Our voices are being drowned out by the opinions of superintendents, and legislators need to hear from teachers now,” says CEA President Kate Dias. “We are calling on Connecticut lawmakers to extend the ‘just cause’ legal standard to certified educators—affording teachers the same rights and consideration in termination proceedings given to other school staff. Your stories are key in helping legislators understand why just cause is needed for teachers and how challenging the school environment can be without it.”
Please write to your legislator right now and tell them to extend the same rights to ensure fairness and due process for all educators.
Just cause, also referred to as “fair cause,” is a recognized standard for discipline that ensures fair enforcement, due process, evidence-based decisions, equal treatment, proportionate discipline, and considerations for mitigating circumstances. Under the law, all other board of education employees who are not teachers are guaranteed a fair process in accordance with just cause. Many people believe teachers—like university professors—are afforded extra protections when they achieve tenure, but that is far from the truth.
“Without adequate and fair due process, educators can experience arbitrary discipline and unfair termination,” says CEA General Counsel Adrienne DeLucca. “While CEA’s legal team fights to restore teachers’ positions in these cases, the process can be lengthy, and much of the damage suffered when teachers are terminated without cause cannot be undone.”
Click here for more information on fair dismissal.
