All BFT members, especially K-3 and SPED, are urged to contact their legislators on this vital matter. Please click here or use the CONTACT LEGISLATORS link above to email your local state representatives.

This bill, SB 1097, must pass the Education Committee by April 3 in order to go to the General Assembly. Contact members of the Education Committee by clicking here.

Language that would eliminate the reading test component contained in SB 458 (AKA the Education Reform Bill) that passed last May is now part of SB 1097 “An Act Concerning Revisions to the Education Reform Act of 2012.” This bill was created with input from the AFT CT and CEA.

The language pertaining to the testing issue is reprinted below. Note that bracketed language is to be deleted and underlined language is to be added (Note: if you follow the link to the General Assembly web site, the language to be deleted is in red, and the language to be added is in blue).

Sec. 14. Section 10-145r of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013):

For the school year commencing July 1, 2014, and each school year thereafter, [the] each local or regional board of education [for all certified employees who hold] that employs a certified individual who holds an initial, provisional or professional educator certificate with an early childhood nursery through grade three or an elementary endorsement [and are employed] in a position requiring such an endorsement in kindergarten to grade three, inclusive, shall require [all such certified employees to take the practice version of] any such employee to take a survey on reading instruction, developed by the Department of Education and based on the reading instruction examination approved by the State Board of Education on April 1, 2009. [Each local and regional board of education shall annually report the results of such practice examination to the Department of Education.] Such survey shall be completed anonymously by such employee and administered at no financial cost to such employee. The results of such survey shall be aggregated at the grade, school and district level and used in the provision of professional development in scientifically-based reading research and instruction, pursuant to section 10-148b. Such results shall not be considered part of teacher performance evaluations conducted pursuant to section 10-151b, as amended by this act, and shall not be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, as defined in section 1-200.

The entire bill can be found here.

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