Some coverage of the committee hearing…

The Hartford Courant’s article from Wednesday.

An article from The Post-Chronicle.

From the CT Mirror

The AFT CT’s careful review of the bill proposed by Governor Malloy can be found here. It’s a succinct analysis and response to the bill, one that every BFT member should read and be knowledgeable about going forward.

Teachers must respond by February 29, with a final decision to move forward with the incentive to be made by the BOE by March 9. Contact Human Resources with questions or further details.

Here are the major education components:

BUDGET

For Bristol, his proposed changes to Educational Costs Sharing (ECS) would mean an addition $1.39 million for our schools next year. Full details of the education budget can be found here.

REFORM

A side by side comparison of the current tenure system and what he proposes can be found here.

Click here to read the AFT CT position on tenure and the Governor’s proposed changes.

The AFT CT has set up a special web site to help educate members and keep them updated on events as they transpire. http://ItTakesATeamCT.org/news/100/all

Remember – we only have 90 days to get this right. Once this legislative session ends, the changes made could effect teachers for decades. Stay aware and stay active!

1) April vacation has been reinstated, with the caveat that if 3 or more cancelations occur between now and April vacation, school will be held that same week starting with Friday, April 20 and working backwards.

2) The BOE has no intention of altering the Encore portion of the middle school program. Despite this, those teachers who attended and made their voices heard displayed their professionalism, dedication, and passion for the arts.

3) Jennings School will close this June. Staff will be placed into “the pool” of displaced teachers from around the  district. While most of those displaced teachers will be comprised of staff from JJJ, GH, CTO, and MBMS, every school can expect to see staff changes as a result of the redistricting. See Articles 32 and 33 from the BFT contract for specifics of how this process works.

The Hartford Courant article covering the meeting can be found here.

AFT Connecticut Response to Gov. Malloy’s Certification Proposals

Governor Malloy today released his proposals to change certification for teachers in Connecticut.

Certification is a license to teach. A meaningful evaluation process, like the one we helped develop and support as part of the ongoing Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC) process, is the means by which we assess a teacher’s performance and help them reach maximum potential.

“This proposal puts the cart before the horse,” said Sharon Palmer, president of AFT Connecticut. “Our focus this year is to improve education for everyone and that should begin with ensuring teacher quality by establishing rigorous teacher preparation,  meaningful evaluation and support.”

There are many ideas on certification that have merit. AFT Connecticut will be discussing these and other ideas with our members and continue to work with the members of PEAC to reach a collaborative agreement on what will work best for our state.

We note that the justification for these proposals is limited to a survey of superintendents. What’s more, only 15% of the respondents to the superintendents’ survey appear to be from school districts with the greatest need.

“We are very disappointed that the Governor has chosen to base these proposals on the opinions of only the superintendents and not the 50,000 educators who are doing the work of educating children.”

We hope that in the future a broader range of education professionals, including Connecticut’s 50,000 educators, will be considered.

AFT Connecticut is the second largest AFL-CIO union in the state, representing more than 28,000 professionals including teachers, paraprofessionals and school related personnel.

See the Bristol Press article here.