From the CEA: Reform Alert!--Telephone Town Hall

REFORM ALERT

You and your colleagues are invited to participate in an informative and timely CEA Telephone Town Hall on Thursday, March 8, at 6:00 p.m.

It’s an uphill climb to shape meaningful and fair education reform based on teachers’ knowledge and experience in the classroom. PLEASE PLAN TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS TELEPHONE TOWN HALL conversation.

Here’s the process for joining the call:

1.    You will receive an automated phone invitation Wednesday, March 7, about the live Telephone Town Hall the following evening. That Wednesday invitation will alert you to the fact that you will receive a second automated phone contact, on the evening of Thursday, March 8, at 6:00 p.m.

2.    When you receive the second automated contact on Thursday, March 8, just stay on the line, and you’ll be connected to a very important conversation.

Here’s how the call will work:

We will begin the call by bringing you up to date on critical legislative proposals such as those in the Governor’s Bill No. 24 that would:

Ø  base teacher certification – a teacher's license to teach – on evaluations from principals instead of on a teacher’s training, experience, and education level;

Ø  take collective bargaining rights away from teachers in our lowest performing schools;

Ø  take significant control away from local school districts and place it completely in the hands of the state commissioner of education;

Ø  shift local funding away from neighborhood schools, already struggling with diminished resources, to charter schools; and

Ø  impose experimental programs that have not been proven to work.

We look forward to having you join us next Thursday.  In the meantime, If your state senator or state representative is on the Education Committee, please contact him/her and tell the lawmaker that you oppose the unproven and untested elements of the governor’s bill. If your legislator is not a member of the Education Committee, urge him/her to discuss your concerns with Education Committee members as soon as possible, since the committee could vote at any time this month.

Below is a link to contact legislators by email/phone numbers.

www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/CGAFindLeg.asp  

Senate Democrats 1-800-842-1420    Senate Republicans 1-800-842-1421

House Democrats 1-800-842-1902     House Republicans 1-800-842-1423

Best wishes for a great weekend,

Phil Apruzzese                        Mary Loftus Levine

CEA President                        CEA Executive Director