POSITIONS OPEN FOR NOMINATION
CEA may be eligible to elect up to 30 state delegates to the NEA RA in 2020. Here are descriptions of the open positions:
Category 1 At-Large/State Delegate: Fifteen Positions (Term: two years)
Category 1 At-Large/Ethnic Minority Concerns: Four Positions (Term: 2
years)
These categories must have Active classroom teachers (Membership Type AC-1) or NEA Life members (Membership Type AC-7) in local affiliates are eligible for these positions.
Aspiring Educators: one Position (Term: 1 Year)
Only Aspiring Educators with a SEA and NEA membership are eligible for this position.
Membership Units: nine positions from specific Membership Units (Term: one year)
Only active members (Membership Type AC-1) or NEA Life members (Membership Type AC-7) who teach in a local CEA affiliate in one of the seventeen Membership Units may be nominated for these positions. The nine open units include E, F, H, J, K, L, M, P & Q.
Unit E:
Bethel, Brookfield, CEA New Milford, Easton, NEA Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman
Unit F:
Amity, Bethany, Branford, Derby, East Haven, Milford, Orange, Oxford, Seymour, Woodbridge
Unit H:
ACES, Cheshire, Hamden, North Haven, Wallingford, Wolcott
Unit J:
Berlin, Farmington, Newington, Plainville, Plymouth, Southington, Thomaston, Wethersfield
Unit K:
Cromwell, East Hartford, Glastonbury, Manchester, Rocky Hill
Unit L:
Bloomfield, CREC, East Windsor, Enfield, South Windsor, Suffield, Windsor
Unit M:
Avon, Canton, East Granby, Granby, Simsbury, West Hartford, Windsor Locks
Unit P:
East Lyme, Groton, Ledyard, Montville, New London, North Stonington, Preston, Project LEARN, Stonington, Voluntown, Waterford
Unit Q:
Clinton, East Haddam, East Hampton, Guilford, Haddam-Killingworth, Madison, Old Saybrook, Regional 4, Regional 13, Regional 18, Portland, Westbrook
Category 2 At-Large: One position (Term interim position open this year)
Nominees for the Category 2 At-Large position must be Active members (Membership Type AC-1) in supervisor/administrator positions or NEA Life members (Membership Type AC-7) who are no longer teaching—but only if they are not also NEA-Retired members. (NEA Life membership is a special category terminated in 1973.) Members with Active Life Memberships who are not retired from teaching are eligible for Category 2. NEA-Retired Members for Life (Membership Type RT-7) or annual Retired members (Membership Type RT-8) ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR CATEGORY 2
We simply have to find a different way to fund public schools. Relying on property taxes in an up and down economy leaves our children vulnerable just when they need help the most. Investing in our children now leads to a stronger society and better community and better economy in the long run, so we have to find a stable way of funding our schools. Increased class sizes because teachers had to be laid off helps no one. Limiting supplies and resources is not helping. Asking the taxpayers to cough up more money when they are losing their jobs can’t be the answer. How do other countries fund their schools?
In addition to statewide cuts, individual districts are facing their own shortfalls again this year. Layoffs are devastating and affect the lives and families of the teachers as well as the ability to continue to deliver quality services in schools.
Timing could not be worse. How can teachers be expected to implement SRBI interventions when class sizes will increase due to staff cuts and there will be a decrease in resources?
The frustration point is beyond what is occurring in our schools and our classrooms. The frustration point is at the local and national government who believe that cutting the future is the answer to today’s problems. We speak, but they do not listen. We show, but they see what they want to see. We do, but it isn’t enough for them. America has a way of solving or fixing problems once they have happened. The tragedy of September 11th being case in point. We didn’t have the substantial security prior to that date, because we hadn’t had a reason to. Unfortunately, it will take years to come for the “government” to realize just exactly what they are destroying. The question then is will it be beyond repair?
We are ignoring the most basic premise of education- teaching children. How can we accomplish this goal if we are continually given less and less resources to help these children compete in this ever advancing world? So frustrating.
To whom it may concern,
The school system that I teach in, Bridgeport, CT, has many resources available this year. We have smartboards, Renaissance Responders, textbooks, many science supplies for inquiry experiments, etc. I feel that I am very lucky to be in a district that has many resources even though all districts could use more. My concerns are on our health care coverage becoming “less than” in the future. Since becoming a teacher 7 years ago I feel that I am extremely privileged to be an 8th grade science teacher at Cesar Batalla School. The staff is awesome and we have many wonderful students. Bridgeport teachers should be paid at higher salaries for competition in the state, however most of the teachers are there because they love the students.
I feel we are just “getting by” with what supplies we do have left over from previous years and what we can get our students to bring in as a donation. I’ve been a teacher for 18 years and I haven’t ever seen it this bad. I find myself asking other teachers in the building if they have extra supplies because what I ordered was cut from the budget without notification. In our middle school we have grade-level teams. We run fundraisers so we have money at the end of the year for a team-wide reward for the kids. When we returned from summer break, all monies that weren’t spent by the teams were split among all of the teams in the building. This is not right! We worked hard to raise that money, yet they shared it without a second thought.