A 21-year veteran high school math teacher, Kate Dias was elected president of the Connecticut Education Association in 2021. Prior to taking on this role, she was president of the Manchester Education Association, where her local association ran a mental health campaign focused on strengthening programming and support for students and staff, participated in Safe Schools health and safety monitoring, ran a successful Early Leadership Institute, and started a Union 101 program that shares the benefits of union membership with student teachers and interns.
A cooperating teacher and longtime mentor for new educators, Dias began her career in an alternative education program, working with students at risk of dropping out. In this program, she says, she learned firsthand the value of interpersonal connections.
Most recently, she taught geometry and college-level statistics at Manchester High School and worked with adult learners in the math department at Manchester Community College. In addition, she chaired her district’s Curriculum Committee and Professional Development Committee, served on its Equity Team, and led its Professional Development and Evaluation Committee.
She has also served CEA in many capacities, including as a member of its Board of Directors (Hartford County), Equity Task Force, Resolutions Committee, and Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Development Committee; as a CEA and NEA Representative Assembly delegate; and as a presenter at the NEA Leadership Summit and the CEA Summer Leadership Institute. Dias earned her master’s degree in education from UConn, a bachelor of science from Northeastern University in Boston, and math certification through the State of Connecticut Alternate Route to Certification Program.