Educators deserve more than just words of thanks this Teacher Appreciation Week. With a number of towns proposing the elimination of teaching positions and the legislative session wrapping up without progress on key teacher priorities, educators are looking for meaningful action—not platitudes.
In an op-ed published in major newspapers across the state, CEA President Kate Dias writes, “We refuse to provide a living wage for our starting educators, we allow damaging rhetoric to lead public comment on education, and we continue to micromanage and overregulate public education to the point that we are compounding the shortage of educators in our state.
“Withholding funds that would allow our education system and the cities and towns served by our schools to thrive is a move in the wrong direction. What took years of effort to achieve could take only a legislative session or two to dismantle.”
Making the right decision takes courage. Contact your legislators and Governor Ned Lamont and tell them to support educators and our priorities before it’s too late.
While the legislature continues to pass some good, no-cost education policies, they are not enough. Action is needed now to reverse the teacher shortage and to meet the growing needs of school children in our communities. We can’t wait another year to address the educator shortage in Connecticut, support teaching as a respected profession, and ensure needed resources get to classrooms and children.
“It’s time to step up and support educators,” Dias says. “Talk is cheap, but a winning, high-performing public school system is not.”
