In an interview with WFSB Channel 3’s Brian Shactman this week, CEA President Kate Dias discussed positive changes to Connecticut teachers’ work environments thanks to new legislation, as well as CEA’s continued push for student cell phone bans in schools, how artificial intelligence is reshaping education, challenges and solutions regarding special education, opportunities around regionalization, and factors driving the ongoing teacher shortage, including increased stress and diminished boundaries for educators.
“The role of an educator is really complex, with more to navigate in the classroom, and more layers added over time,” Dias said. “We have wraparound responsibilities, with work that begins before the school day and extends beyond the end of the day. The ability to get the job done in totality is almost impossible in the time we have, but I don’t think that’s something we can’t fix.”
Asked about the state of education in Connecticut, she said, “We’re in a really interesting moment where we’re trying to reimagine a few things.” Some of that work, she explained, is what the governor put forward by establishing specific education task forces and commissions that Dias has been appointed to.
“What that signals is that the status quo is no longer satisfactory,” she said. “By and large, if you look across the country, I think Connecticut is doing really well. But we also have to consider that our state has areas of extreme wealth that could be masking issues in areas without those resources. We need to thinking about what we’re doing for kids, whether they’re the right things, are we building community the right way, should we be allocating our resources differently, and are we doing right by everyone, including students, families, and teachers.”
Watch an excerpt of the interview here and the continued conversation here.
