With a week left in the legislative session, CEA leaders, members, parents, and several legislators came together on the steps of the State Capitol today to urge legislators and the governor to use this opportunity to fix the teacher shortage crisis. They called on lawmakers to take action before the session ends to encourage the recruitment and retention of educators and to provide funding and accountability measures to fix the shortage crisis facing our public schools.
With pay lagging far behind that of other professions that also require advanced degrees, a lack of recognition for their work during COVID, and facing increasing student needs without adequate support, teachers are leaving for other states with higher pay or for professions that offer higher compensation with less stress.
“Many of our legislators have not taken up the mantle of financial support for teachers,” said CEA President Kate Dias. “We are grateful for the policy actions; however, we know teachers need to be recognized for their pandemic efforts, which were absolutely historic and legendary, and have yet to be acknowledged. Teachers are also looking at starting salaries of $48,000—talk about a wage that is, quite frankly, just not competitive. We are asking our teachers to sit there with master’s degrees, to hold up and keep our communities intact during some of the most critical times, and yet, we don’t want to pay them.”
Kristen Basiaga is a Glastonbury teacher and a parent of three children. Her son attends a technical high school that started the year in September with 14 new summer hires and 12 staff vacancies. “In September and October the school was just routinely closing because they didn’t have the staff. We would get an email the night before, ‘school is canceled for tomorrow.’ The kids treat it like it’s a snow day, but you know what—that’s their education, their constitutional right.”
“This is a crisis, and we need bold action to address it,” said CEA President Kate Dias.
Basiaga said that school closures throughout the year eventually were changed to half days, of which there have been at least 10. Half days allow teachers to cover classes lacking an educator, whether they are certified for the position or not, and take their prep period at the end of the day after the students have left.
“Why does my kid get less of an education than students in other schools around us?” she asked. “It’s not just my kid and one school; this is a problem that’s coming to your district, too.”
Several legislators spoke at the news conference, including Reps. Kevin Brown, Chris Poulos, Dominique Johnson, Sarah Keitt, and Senator Saud Anwar.
“The crisis before us is a crisis,” CREC teacher Rep. Brown said. “I don’t know what it’s going to take for people to recognize this.”
“Now more than ever we need to bring teachers and parents to the table to address and give input on the challenges that face our profession,” said Rep. Poulos, a teacher in Redding.
“When I go to bed at night, I should be comfortable knowing that my kid is going to be able to go to school the next day, knowing that he will receive the proper education with the teacher present,” said Bloomfield parent Ian Laurencin. Through his involvement with Bloomfield Public Schools, he said he has had the chance to see what a difficult job teachers have. “We have a shortage of 12 teachers in the Bloomfield School District, which may not seem like a big number, but it is. Imagine how many students are learning from these teachers.”
He continued, “My son hasn’t had a language arts teacher available for about a month now, and we all should be concerned.”
“We’re competing with other towns in our area, and because other towns offer more competitive salaries, we’ve lost a lot of teachers,” said Bloomfield teacher and local education association president Gail Jorden. “I know a teacher who left for another district to make $20,000 more.”
“If we do not invest in our teachers and the education of our children, then we are failing,” said Senator Saud Anwar.
CEA Vice President Joslyn DeLancey, who lives 10 minutes from the New York border, says New York, Massachusetts, and other states are taking drastic measures to ensure they are taking care of their teachers. Maryland has set a starting teacher salary of $60,000 a year, and CEA would like to see the same here in Connecticut.
“We have been systematically reducing the budgets for education, we have not been investing in our teachers, we have not been investing in education the way we need to, and when you see the results, we do not have enough teachers. This is the time for investment. This is a critical time,” said Senator Anwar. “If we do not invest in our teachers and the education of our children, then we are failing.”
“There is still time to address this right now, in the legislative session,” said CEA Executive Director Donald Williams. “The first step in addressing a crisis is acknowledging there is a crisis. The number of teachers considering leaving the profession has gone up dramatically.”
He continued, “How do we fix the crisis? Pay educators the salaries they deserve. The same as similar professions that require a master’s degree. Compensate those teachers for their sacrifice and work during COVID. Provide tuition credit for students who get an education degree and a teaching job. And specifically require accountability. Direct new dollars for education to the educators in the classroom.”
“With just one week left in the legislative session, we need legislators and the governor to tackle this crisis head on and to address the teacher shortage. We can’t wait another year. We must act now to ensure that any new funding is directed toward measures that will address the burgeoning staff shortages and ensure students have qualified educators in their classrooms to help them succeed,” said DeLancey.
She urged teachers and parents to reach out to Governor Lamont and let him know why it’s crucial that he support a state budget that provides landmark funding for teacher recruitment and retention.
