In a hugely disappointing move for tens of thousands of Connecticut educators, the legislature’s Appropriations Committee failed to take action before their 5 p.m. deadline on a landmark education bill with major implications for teachers, paraeducators, and students.
The fight, however, is not over, and our success depends on you.
Connecticut’s spending cap severely limits the number of big-ticket items the Appropriations Committee is willing to fund each year, creating a major uphill battle for us. The good news? The legislative session continues until June 7, and there are still key opportunities to get many of our priorities past the finish line.
We need every educator to contact their legislators and keep advocating. Your phone calls, your emails, and your participation in CEA’s #RedforEd Fix the Crisis Day of Action next week will all send a clear message to the elected officials who represent you.
What, When, Where?
Teachers’ starting salaries and tax credits, COVID pension benefit enhancement, kindergarten start age, duty-free prep periods, play-based learning in the early grades, an end to edTPA, an Educator Bill of Rights, and myriad other policy initiatives that would be transformational for both our profession and our students’ learning experiences are on the line.
Although our bill died in Appropriations, pathways still exist for enacting key components of that bill and others into law. We have opportunities to fix teacher evaluation, school climate, special education funding, indoor air quality, and more.
Get involved and stay involved. Choose the things you are most passionate about and speak to those. Legislators are impacted by your personal stories and experiences. If you think a few voices don’t matter, think again. They are what got our priorities on the agenda this legislative session. They are what kept them on the agenda—literally—today. And they will be instrumental in finally fixing the teacher shortage—a crisis Connecticut cannot afford.
