The AFT CT and CEA are uniting to conduct a huge rally at the Capitol on May 12, just as Connecticut  legislators prepare to debate the merits of high stakes testing. With NCLB facing major opposition in Washington, the pendulum is starting to swing away from a test obsessed “blame the teacher” approach into one that acknowledges the difficult realities of education. This is an opportunity teachers should not let slip by. It’s time to take our profession back!

WHO: All teachers in Connecticut

WHAT: As Legislators are preparing to debate the issue, Connecticut teachers will unite and send them a message to end the obsession with testing..

WHEN: Tuesday, May 12, 2015, at 5:00 p.m.

WHERE: North Lawn of the State Capitol Building, Hartford.

WHY: To ensure that the focus in our classrooms is on instruction and the joy of learning – not excessive testing. Your activism is critical to ask legislators to support SB 1095, which requires the State Department of Education to study the affect and impact of statewide standardized tests on student learning time and the feasibility of replacing them with progress monitoring tests throughout the school year.

AFT Connecticut is joining with our colleagues in the Connecticut Education Association for a rally to urge lawmakers to eliminate burdensome standardized tests and create an improved system of monitoring student growth in ways that are not unduly tied to a single arbitrary standardized test score.

HOW: The BFT will work with AFT CT to bus Bristol teachers to the event. An update will follow.

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