Connecticut Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor announced today that he is resigning.
In a press release from the governor’s office, Pryor said he will not serve a second term and is actively seeking new professional opportunities.
CEA President Sheila Cohen today wished state Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor well in his prospective endeavors, and said “While we did not disagree with the commissioner on the goal of maintaining and improving public education for all students in Connecticut, we did disagree at times on how to reach that goal.”
Cohen said the spotlight of the state’s largest teachers’ union today is on the future, and her members are ready for a new day that underscores a thorough examination of the non-proven and unscientific reliance on standardized testing for students and teachers, of the establishment and the veracity of best practices as determined by the practicing and certified professional educator, as well as the high-quality education that every single student in Connecticut deserves, regardless of socio-economic factors, language barriers, or physical or other special needs circumstances.
Cohen used the opportunity of the resignation to call on state decision makers to select a successor with extensive public education boots-on-the-ground experience.
“CEA looks forward to the selection of a Connecticut public schools’ state steward who exemplifies a realistic and pragmatic—as well as visionary—voice for teachers, parents, and students. Connecticut’s teachers, with their unparalleled classroom perspective and their irreplaceable voice in public education policymaking, must be major players in every aspect of the determination of the future of public education,” Cohen said.
