Update on Proposed Certification Changes
The State Board of Education met this Wednesday and began a discussion of the proposed certification changes. Mary Loftus Levine, CEA Director of Policy and Professional Practice, and Linette Branham, CEA Educational Issues Specialist, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. They urged the Board to listen to what educators have been saying about the problems with the proposed certification changes.
Nearly 150 educators spoke at the five certification hearings the State Department of Education held this spring, and many more attended the hearings and/or submitted written testimony. Thank you to all who spoke out on this issue.
The State Board of Education will be continuing discussion of the proposed changes at their July 7 meeting. They will then vote on these changes at either their July or September meeting.
CEA put together the video below with excerpts from the certification hearings and shared it with the State Board so they could listen (as well as read) your testimony first hand.
EduJobs Effort Stalls in Congress
Memorial Day weekend invariably signals the denouement of the school year. In good years the feeling is good for both students and teachers. This year has been, by most accounts, anything but good and the prospects for short-term improvement recently became dimmer.
Congress adjourned for its Memorial Day recess without considering measures which would provide relief to local school districts around the nation faced with the very real prospect of massive layoffs. We are talking about approximately $23 billion and the ECS (Education Commission of the States) released estimates on May 28 that indicate Connecticut would receive nearly $251 million. Ninety-eight percent of the money would be distributed directly to local districts through a state’s school finance formula and ECS estimates that this translates into approximately 3000 teaching positions for Connecticut.
Depending on who you listen to, opinions range from “It’s dead in the water” to “They just could not complete it in time and will take it up soon after returning.”
Early last week, the Senate plan was to attach the measure to a military spending bill, but Senator Harkin announced that he simply did not have the necessary 60 votes required and pulled the bill. According to Michelle McNeill at EdWeek, Harkin is committed to finding a vehicle to accomplish it and cited the House effort. On Thursday, however, David Obey, (D-WI) chair of the House Appropriations Committee, decided not to convene his panel after having participated in a press conference on Wednesday with Arne Duncan and George Miller, (D-CA) chairman, House Education and Labor Committee, urging passage of the emergency measure. Last Friday, after it was apparent that the proposal was in trouble and some Democrats were questioning the President’s commitment to the issue, the Washington Post published an op-ed piece by Christina Romer, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, “How to Prevent Huge Teacher Layoffs.”
There has been a lot of pressure exerted from a variety of reform groups to use the money to leverage states to eliminate seniority as the primary consideration in teacher layoffs — the so-called “last hired – first fired” provisions. The debate is not new, nor is its occurrence any less predictable. What may be new is how empowered certain insiders are feeling inside the beltway after seeing how successful Secretary Duncan has been using the same template with Race to the Top monies. For a flavor of the current debate on seniority check out these links:
- The National Journal Expert Blogs: Education The Education Jobs Bill And Reform
- Joint Letter on Keeping Our Educators Working Act of 2010
The next few weeks are critical and it is well worth the effort to remind members of the Senate and House how important this money will be for Connecticut and the nation.
Governor M. Jodi Rell poses with education leaders following a signing ceremony May 26 at Hockanum School in East Hartford where she signed into law a new comprehensive education reform policy bill. With the governor are (l. to r.) Connecticut Federation of School Administrators President Roch Girard, CEA President Phil Apruzzese, CEA Executive Director John Yrchik, State Commissioner of Education Mark McQuillan, Education Committee Co-Chairs Senator Thomas Gaffey and State Representative Andrew Fleischmann.
CEA leaders were among invited officials at a signing ceremony today at Hockanum School in East Hartford. Governor M. Jodi Rell signed into law a comprehensive education reform policy bill passed in the final days of the 2010 legislative session.
The legislation, Senate Bill 438, An Act Concerning Education Reform in Connecticut, covers an array of issues designed to provide new chances to boost student achievement. The new law increases the minimum credits required for high school graduation from 20 to 25 and gives greater emphasis to math, science, and world languages, beginning with the Class of 2018. It also requires every student to complete a “capstone project” – an independent demonstration project.
The legislation was crafted by a working group that included CEA representatives and other stakeholders in the education community, including the co-chairs of the General Assembly’s Education Committee and the state commissioner of education.
“As a genuine partner, CEA tapped the knowledge and experience of teachers during this legislative process,” said CEA President Phil Apruzzese, who attended the signing ceremony. “We are pleased that teachers had a voice at the table and that CEA could make a difference in shaping the final omnibus school reform package.”
The governor called the legislation a product of “bipartisan” effort. “By having all of the interested parties – educators, teachers unions, parents, students, legislators, and others – together at the table, we ended up with a far stronger result than any individual effort could produce. This is bold, visionary reform – and we are making it happen together,” Governor Rell said.
The new law also enhances Connecticut’s chances to secure up to $175 million in federal Race to the Top (RTTT) grant funding that rewards states for taking bold steps in education reform. Connecticut will file its application for the next round of RTTT grants on June 1.
Waterbury teacher Eric Feeney and Bloomfield teacher Howard Dashefsky are urging you to join them and call your Connecticut senators and representative today. Jobs are on the line and every extra phone call makes a difference.
Congress needs to pass a pending $23 billion education and jobs bill to help save teaching jobs in Connecticut and across the country, and to prevent increased class sizes and severe cutbacks to student programs.
Connecticut Congressman Joe Courtney says, “My conversations with Connecticut educators make it crystal clear: Failure to pass this measure will result in exploding class size, canceled summer school and shortened school hours — all of which adds up to permanent harm to Connecticut’s most valuable asset, our children.”
Today is the NEA organized National Call-In Day. Teachers around the country are calling their representatives in Washington and telling them to protect the future of our children by supporting funding to save education jobs in the emergency funding bill.
Join Feeney, Dashefsky and teachers across the state and country — speak up!
To take action:
- On Wednesday, May 26th, call 1-866-608-6355 to contact your representative in Congress.
- You will hear talking points and will be connected to the United States Capitol Switchboard – ask for your House Member. To find out who your House Member is, either ask the operator or click here.
- Tell Your Representative to protect the future of our children by supporting funding to save education jobs in the emergency funding bill.
- With 300,000 education layoffs expected, our students are the ones who will suffer – in overcrowded classrooms, with less time in school, and without the teachers and school staff needed to give them individual attention and help.
- Share this call-in day information with your friends — ask them to call Congress and inform their friends about this crucial legislation.
Disrespecting Teachers Detrimental to Everyone
The Chronicle of Higher Education had a great opinion piece recently by Teresa Ghilarducci titled Teacher-Union Bashing Is Simple-Minded.
Let’s say you’re advising a business with varying quality and you want to improve performance. Would you ridicule the workers publicly, cut their pay and benefits, and say that they are the sole cause of the problem and that you want brighter younger replacements who will work overtime and weekends? No new CEO would adopt this as a strategy for success. Attacking your work force is not an effective way to improve quality, produce a better product, and attract top talent—a bright young replacement would notice the disrespect.
So why do people think attacking teachers is a route to education reform?
Read the entire article here.
It’s dispiriting that so many journalists, government officials and so-called education reformers have taken to scapegoating teachers for all of education’s woes. They fail to recognize the complexity of the issues involved. And, as Ghilarducci points out, the disrespectful tone too many have taken towards teachers doesn’t do anyone any good.
Ghilarducci concludes by saying, “Those interested in real reform should figure out how to work with teachers, not belittle and attack them.”
What do you think? Leave a comment.
Norwich Educators Fight for Quality Education
The town of Norwich, like too many around the state, is facing a budget crisis. The Norwich City Council wants a zero-percent increase, $62.5 million school budget. The town is already planning to close two elementary schools and eliminate non-mandated programs, but the school board will have to make an additional $1.5 million in cuts to achieve the $62.5 million figure.
Cuts of this magnitude have a serious effect on the quality of instruction students receive. 71 teachers could lose their jobs. When class sizes increase and programs are cut, students lose out in a big way.
The Norwich Teachers League is asking the town to reconsider the effect these cuts will have on the future of children in Norwich. Educators who work with students every day know firsthand that a lack of individual attention and decreased opportunities mean that more children will struggle to achieve.
The city council will vote on a final budget June 7 or 14. Before they make a final decision Norwich teachers want them to think long and hard about the children whose future they will be sacrificing if they stick with the proposed budget.
On May 6 nearly 100 people protested the budget cuts in front of city hall prior to a city council public hearing, which was packed with concerned citizens. Educators, parents, and students showed their support for quality education in Norwich.
Watch video from the rally below. (If you can’t view the embedded video, watch it here.)
A group of education stakeholders met with U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney and State Representative Tom Reynolds Tuesday morning in Hartford to discuss the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Courtney sits on the House Education and Labor Committee and Reynolds is Assistant Majority Leader in the Connecticut House of Representatives.
The Obama administration released its blueprint for revising ESEA March 13. Obama has called on Congress to pass a bill this year, and Senator Harkin, chair of the Health, Education, Labor, And Pensions Committee, has said he’d like to get legislation through the Senate this summer.
Courtney met with education leaders to hear their priorities and concerns for education in Connecticut prior to federal debate about ESEA reauthorization.
Connecticut’s Teacher of the Year, Kristi Luetjen, a West Hartford kindergarten teacher, commented that she and other state Teachers of the Year were disheartened after a recent meeting with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and other Department of Education officials. She said that one of the first things she noticed looking at the blueprint was that preschool was only mentioned once in the entire document. “Clearly teachers were not overly involved in writing [the blueprint].”
Mary Loftus Levine, CEA Director of Policy and Professional Practice said, “Here in Connecticut, the chairs of the state’s Education Committee brought education stakeholders together and worked on consensus in connection with state legislation that would support Connecticut’s second application for Race to the Top (RTTT) funds. This collaboration is a good thing that has never happened before. In contrast, the competitive tone being set by Washington has got to stop – it’s showing up again in the blueprint.”
She added that Connecticut is being penalized because we didn’t win RTTT, but the state is still doing a lot of great things. We have the most progressive teacher induction program in the country and we’re working to raise certification standards. The CommPACT schools program is a research based reform model that is already showing strong results, yet the state was ready to throw away three years of work and research because it doesn’t fit Secretary Duncan’s vision of how to turn around a school.
Several attendees raised concerns about Secretary Duncan’s role as the highest profile education secretary the country has seen, and the way in which federal mandates have been steadily encroaching on state’s rights to make their own education policy decisions. Reynolds responded that, in his opinion, the current and growing role of the federal government in education is out of line with its constitutional role. He said that it is “excessive and inappropriate to offer such overly prescriptive mandates to the states.”
Courtney agreed that over time the federal government’s role in education has increasingly been crossing the rubicon, from IDEA to ESEA and NCLB. He said that he and other members of the Education Committee will likely look into limiting the policy discretion the Department of Education has recently enjoyed.
Happy National Teacher Day
Today we have a guest post from Marne Usher, Connecticut PTSA President.
Marne Usher (left), CT PTSA President, at the 2010 CEA RA last weekend.
May 2 to May 8 is PTA Teacher Appreciation Week and May 4 is Teacher Appreciation Day – a time when we all take a moment to thank those individuals who make a difference, every day, in the lives of our children. I’m sure that we all can think of teachers who made a difference in our lives, who helped us, inspired us, coaxed us or just plain listened to us.
Now that my children are both in college, however, I find myself reflecting on the teachers who made a difference in their lives and in mine. The fifth grade teacher who was so important to my daughter that, in 6th grade she would ride the Middle School bus all the way back to her elementary school to visit her old classroom. The Kindergarten teacher who assured me that my young son was doing just fine even though he was the youngest in his class, and that same fifth grade teacher assuring me that he was more than ready for middle school.
If education is a journey for our children, it is a journey with a marvelous set of tour guides who help them reach their destination. I have always felt that the education of my children was a partnership between the dedicated professionals who my children spent their days with and the family that they spent evenings, weekends and their precious vacation time with. My children too, knew that I respected their teachers and was in contact with them regularly. They learned early on that I knew a great deal about what they were doing in school and claims of “no homework” didn’t wash. In these days of so much emphasis on measurable achievement it is sometimes forgotten that some success can’t be quantified.
Across the state and across the nation school communities will be hosting a variety of activities and events to say thank you. In my book, however, every day should be teacher appreciation day. Teachers work closely with parents to create the future.
As long as I am sending out thank-yous, I would also like to thank you for inviting me to attend CEA’s annual meeting this past weekend. The event is formally known as the 162nd Representative Assembly. It was an honor to be in the presence of nearly 500 “shapers of the future”. Never doubt that you are all making a difference.
Marne Usher
CT PTSA President
P.S. Yep, you are reading that right, PTSA. At our annual convention our membership voted to change our name to represent the important role that students play in our association both as active members and as the group we focus our work around. So we are now officially the Connecticut Parent Teacher Student Association!
Thank you to Marne for the post and kind words about teachers. Are teachers being celebrated at your school?
Over 400 teachers attended CEA’s 162nd Representative Assembly this weekend in Cromwell. The Representative Assembly is CEA’s highest policymaking body and is attended by elected teacher delegates from CEA’s local affiliates.
At this year’s Representative Assembly, delegates elected leaders to the positions of treasurer, secretary, and ethnic minority directors at-large.
Jeff Leake Re-Elected Treasurer
Jeff Leake, a Cheshire middle school teacher, has been re-elected to a second three-year term as treasurer. He received 239 votes and Pomperaug teacher Maureen Honan received 200.
Leake, who begins his second term as treasurer August 1, will continue to chair the CEA Finance Committee and work with this committee of CEA members to formulate and monitor the Association’s annual budget. Prior to being elected to his first term as treasurer in 2007, Leake represented New Haven County teachers as a member of the CEA Board of Directors.
A Cheshire teacher for more than 30 years, Leake currently is a technology specialist for the Cheshire Public Schools. He is a member of the Education Association of Cheshire (EAC), and has served in numerous EAC leadership positions over the years, including vice president and president.
In addition to his work on the CEA Finance Committee, Leake also serves on the board of the Connecticut Education Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization formed by CEA to operate several charitable funds. One of the funds aids needy children, another assists teachers who face special financial hardships, and two others provide scholarships to future teachers.
In his district, Leake has served on two technology committees, a strategic goals committee, and math and science curriculum revision committees. He has a special interest in promoting high quality professional development for all teachers.
He resides in Cheshire.
Cheryl Prevost Re-Elected Secretary
Cheryl Prevost, a middle school teacher in East Hartford, was re-elected to a three-year term as secretary. She received 222 votes and Patricia Jordan, a Waterford math teacher, received 215.
As CEA secretary, Prevost oversees the preparation and maintenance of all CEA governing records, policies, meeting minutes, and other pertinent documents.
An education technology teacher at the East Hartford Middle School, Prevost has served as CEA secretary for the past four years. She begins her new term August 1.
Prevost is a member of the East Hartford Education Association (EHEA), and during the past 21 years she served East Hartford teachers in a variety of EHEA leadership roles, including president.
Prevost was appointed CEA secretary in 2006 to fill a vacancy. She was elected to her first three-year term in 2007. Prior to serving as secretary, she represented Hartford County teachers on the CEA Board of Directors for eight years.
In addition to her duties as CEA secretary, Prevost chairs the Connecticut Advisory Council for Teacher Professional Standards, and represents CEA on the Connecticut Commission for Education Technologies. She also serves on the board of directors of the Connecticut Educators Computer Association (CECA) and has been a mentor and cooperating teacher in her district.
Prevost has chaired accreditation committees of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) at her school as well as serving on several NEASC visiting committees throughout New England. NEASC is the regional accrediting association that establishes standards for all levels of education, from pre-k to doctorial.
Prevost resides in Glastonbury.
Edgar Roca, Brenda Key, Linda Lew-Roca Will Fill Minority Director At-Large Positions
Elections also occurred at the CEA Representative Assembly to fill two Ethnic Minority Directors At-Large seats on the CEA Board of Directors for three-year terms. No election was required for the third position for an interim one-year term since it was uncontested.
Edgar Roca, a high school Spanish teacher at Valley Regional High School in Regional School District #4, and Brenda Key, an elementary teacher at Duffy School in West Hartford, received the two highest votes in a three-way race for the two three-year positions. Roca received 362 votes and Key received 232 votes.
Faith Sweeney, an elementary teacher at the Hamilton Avenue School in Greenwich, was also a candidate for one of the three-year positions. She received 224 votes.
Linda Lew-Roca, a teacher at the West Side Middle School in Groton, was uncontested for election to the interim position. She was declared elected by acclamation on Friday evening.
Lew-Roca was appointed by the CEA Board of Directors in January to fill a vacancy as one of the board’s Ethnic Minority Directors At-Large until an election could be held at the CEA RA to fill the remaining year of the three-year term.
The CEA Constitution requires that members of ethnic minorities comprise at least 10 percent of the directors who serve on the CEA Board of Directors. When the percentage falls below 10 percent, additional directors must be elected at the CEA RA to ensure appropriate ethnic minority representation on the CEA Board.
School Finance in the Obama Era
Having spent four decades in education, there is a tendency to feel like I’ve seen it all – and trust me, I have seen a lot. In spite of that, I agree with John Yrchik, who was recently quoted in the Hartford Courant as saying he has never seen it this bad. We have a tendency to be apocalyptic in times of crisis – particularly when it comes to school funding – and the public frequently accuses us of crying wolf, but the current crisis that local districts in Connecticut are trying to deal with is very real.
The way we fund public education in the United States remains deeply flawed, even as we inch our way toward a more federalized and centralized system. We were reminded of the structural problem when Connecticut’s highest court resuscitated the most recent school finance lawsuit launched by CCJEF (the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding). When the case finally does get to trial the fiscal situation that the Superior Court looks at will have considerably worsened since the adequacy study was completed and the case was filed. The impending layoffs and flood of pink slips not only tragically disrupt the lives of teachers, but dampen the ecology of the school and the system that surrounds it well into the future.
On April 14 Secretary Duncan pleaded for more money to avoid layoffs in an appearance before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee:
And so today, on behalf of governors, mayors, educators and students, parents, business leaders, community leaders and everyone who shares the view that education is the key to our economic strength and civic vitality, I urge Congress to consider another round of emergency support for America’s schools.
If we do not help avert this state and local budget crisis, we could impede reform and fail another generation of children. The fact is that gaps for special education, low-income, and minority students remain stubbornly wide.
One in four high school students fails to graduate. Forty percent of students who go to college need remedial education. And huge numbers of young people determined to go to college and pursue a career drop out because of financial or academic challenges.
If we want reform to move forward, we need an education jobs program. Jobs and reform go hand-in-hand.
The so-called "funding cliff"...
Duncan indicated to the committee that “between 100,000 and 300,000 teachers face layoffs”, but fell short of specifically endorsing a solution. Later that week, on April 19, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities released a paper, “Premature End of Federal Assistance to States Threatens Education Reforms and Jobs”. It indicates that the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund has saved 284,000 jobs, but school districts and other local education employers have nevertheless cut 104,500 jobs. It further indicates that “Without additional federal aid, state budget cuts will cost the economy 900,000 public- and private-sector jobs.”
The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) had also just released the results of a national survey of its members, “Cliff Hanger: How America’s Public Schools Continue to Feel the Impact of the Economic Downturn.” The results report that two-thirds of members surveyed cut positions for this school year and 90 percent expect to do so for the coming year. The survey of 453 administrators also found that 62 percent anticipated raising the average class size, 34 percent were considering the elimination of summer school, and 13 percent were weighing the possibility of a four-day school week.
• Compensation and benefits and other expenses necessary to retain existing employees, and for the hiring of new employees, in order to provide early childhood, elementary, secondary, or postsecondary educational and related services; or
• On-the-job training activities for education-related careers.
Every educator should contact their Senator to urge swift passage of Senator Harkin’s bill. You can do this easily by clicking here.
The Obama education budget proposal, if implemented as recommended, would only further exacerbate the unmitigated disaster that lies ahead when the stimulus money dries up. I am referring to the proposed radical shift away from formula driven grants – the traditional mechanism for distributing federal education funds – to competitive funding. More on this later.
