Groton teacher Claire DePeter Powers is concerned about her ability to pay her mortgage under the Governor’s Education Bill #24, which ties teacher evaluations to certification and pay scales. “I don’t want to worry about paying my mortgage or sending my kids to college because my salary is going up and down based on my…
DetailsRidgefield teacher Mark Reinders says he’s living “in semi terror” of the implications of the governor’s education bill, SB 24. He attended the governor’s education meeting in Bethel Thursday, expressing concern that SB 24 is out of proportion to what students and teachers really need. “If I hit my toe with a hammer, please don’t…
DetailsThe next stop for the governor’s education reform train is Bethel High School tonight. If the past is prologue, then many teachers will attend to urge the governor to get education reform done right in this legislative session. Jeannette Picard, a reading consultant at Lebanon Middle School, was among the hundreds of people who attended…
DetailsStatement from CEA Executive Director Mary Loftus Levine Encouraging parental and community participation in schools was a focal point of the teachers’ reform plan released in January. A View from the Classroom: Proven Ideas for Student Achievement offers critical actions that can better engage parents, such as promoting incentives for employers to provide time for…
DetailsCEA continues to encourage people to read the teachers’ reform plan, A View from the Classroom: Proven Ideas for Student Achievement, developed by a cross-section of teachers with expertise in the classroom. It’s a commonsense, research-based alternative to the governor’s proposed bill, with proven ideas that work. CEA and its members know that Connecticut needs to…
DetailsThe New London Day ran an editorial yesterday about CEA’s reform plan, A View from the Classroom: Proven Ideas for Student Achievement. Don’t scapegoat teachers By Paul Choiniere Publication: The Day Published 01/29/2012 12:00 AM If there is one thing that gets Mary Loftus Levine steamed it’s the perception that most of the problems with…
DetailsA council working to develop new educator evaluation guidelines reached favorable consensus today on a basic framework that will meet the needs of Connecticut teachers. CEA has been a strong advocate for teachers as a member of the state Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) that has been meeting for over a year. “It was a…
DetailsCEA members are packing hotel conference rooms across the state as they participate in reforums that give them opportunities to learn, talk, and plan for their legislative advocacy roles in the “Year of Education.” There are four more reforums scheduled for this week and next, so if you haven’t attended one yet, sign up now.…
DetailsMembers of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Task Force studying state education funding today voted on an interim report to present to the governor before the start of the legislative session. The task force members voted unanimously on six recommendations, which provide a core vision for improving education funding. The recommendations include supporting efforts to…
DetailsCEA is calling for a legislative remedy to ensure that the surviving spouse of a retirement-eligible teacher who dies would automatically be offered pre-retirement Plan D, even if the spouse was not the sole named beneficiary. The importance of fixing the Connecticut General Statutes came to CEA’s attention recently because of a very unfortunate incident.…
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