You may feel a range of emotions as you read the summary below of Governor Malloy’s education plan announced today:

·         You may be pleased that he provides the first increase in ECS funding in several years to 130 school districts, while he also proposes a new “Master Teacher” career ladder. 

·         You may be frustrated with the incomplete details we have been given at this time about the governor’s revamping of teacher certification.

·         You may have heard that the governor’s proposals about certification and tenure involve creating a complex system that replaces high objective state standards for teacher certification with a system that ties subjective local evaluations by principals to both your certification and renewable tenure.

·         And you may wonder what message the governor hoped to send by borrowing many of his ideas affecting the teaching profession from other states considering that many regard these as educational experiments.

Most of all, we hope you will feel an urgent and compelling need to stand up and get involved in legislative advocacy so that together we can achieve smart school reform in the legislative session that began today. 

Everyone wants to improve public education.  CEA and our members have been and will continue to remind the governor and our legislators that the most effective reforms are grounded in the experience in the classroom – the kind of experience that only you, as a teacher, can offer.  When the governor’s route to reform detours from what works in the real world of the classroom, the teachers of Connecticut must raise our voices to get lawmakers back on the right road to effective reforms.

During the next 13 weeks of the legislative session, decisions will be made in Hartford that will affect you, your students, and your colleagues for decades to come.  When we stand for greater accountability for everyone, teachers demonstrate that we’re dedicated professionals deserving of respect.  Clearly, we must hold our elected officials accountable, too. 

SUMMARY

Read the governor’s press release and additional budget documents here: http://www.governor.ct.gov/malloy/cwp/view.asp?a=11&q=498754

Read excerpts on tenure from the governor’s speech: http://www.cea.org/issues/news/2012/governor-tenure-2-8-12.pdf

Other details from the governor’s reform package:

1.        Enhance families’ access to high-quality early childhood education opportunities.

o   $12 million for additional school readiness slots, quality improvements, professional development and incentives.

2.       Authorize intensive interventions and turn around Connecticut’s lowest-performing schools and districts.

o   $24.8 million for the Commissioner’s Network Schools.

3.       Expand the availability of school models, including CommPACT schools, magnets, charters and others.

o   $22.4 million for all types of choice schools.

o   Combining increased charter funding into ECS and requiring local contribution.

4.       Remove red tape and other barriers, especially in high-performing schools and districts.

o   Overhaul of the education certification process.

o   Change tenure, and apparently preserve due process.  CEA has many questions about how the governor’s proposal would work, and we will begin this evening to review the legislation his office submitted to the CT General Assembly (the 163-page bill became available at 5 p.m. tonight).  For now, please see governor’s proposed tenure reform comparison chart:http://www.governor.ct.gov/malloy/lib/malloy/Proposed_Tenure_Reform_Comparison.pdf  

5.       Create an education system that values skill and effectiveness over seniority and tenure.

o   $13 million to recruit and develop teachers, especially focused on teachers for the lowest performing schools .

6.       Deliver more resources, targeted to districts with the greatest need –provided that they meet key conditions established by the state.

o   $50 million in new Education Cost Sharing (ECS) funding –$39.5 million for the lowest performing districts that implement reforms.

o   Charter School funding increased to $11,000 per pupil and integrated into the ECS appropriation.

o   $3 million for 250 students in up to five new state Charter Schools.

o   $4.5 million in competitive funding.

7.       Teachers’ Retirement Health Funding

o   The governor has proposed reducing the state’s contribution to the retired teachers’ health insurance fund but increasing the premium share paid by retirees in the Teacher Retirement Board’s Medicare supplement plan (Stirling). Based on current rates, this change would result in retirees in the Stirling plan paying an approximate increase of $32.00 per month.

8.       Education Cost Sharing Grant Changes

• No town will receive less ECS aid in 2013 than it did in 2012. 130towns get more ECS funding.

• Current weighting of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students will remain at 15%, and students in bilingual education programs will be added.

• A new child poverty measure will be used. HUSKY A (number of children ages 5 to 17) will replace Title I poverty.

• For most wealthy communities, the minimum aid ratio will be reduced from 9% to 0%. The minimum aid ratio for Conditional Districts will be 20%.

• Household income data will be streamlined and replaced by more current data. Census Bureau Per Capita Income (PCI) and Median Household Income (MHI), which is updated once a decade, is replaced by MHI produced and updated annually through the Department of Economic and Community Development.

• The foundation is increased from $9,867 to $12,000, a 21.6% increase.

Concluding Note

Many questions have yet to be answered, so please look for subsequent emails from us in the days and weeks ahead. CEA receives and analyzes new information each day, and works with legislators to improve proposed statutes. We will update you on a regular basis so that you can be best informed and better prepared to advocate with your legislators.

Dear Colleagues,

 As you know, CEA has a seat on the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC), which is designing the framework for the new teacher evaluation system in our state.  CEA will also have seats on other PEAC work groups that will focus on more specific details of evaluation.

            To help guide our work and advocacy for a fair, comprehensive, meaningful evaluation system, we’d like to know what questions you have.  To help assure that we don’t miss any details, and we understand your concerns clearly, we’ve created four different email addresses to which you can send questions, based on the topic.  Those topics and mailboxes are :

1.       using student test scores in evaluation - testscores@cea.org

2.       using other indicators of student growth - otherindicators@cea.org

3.       observation of teacher performance and professional practice - teacherperformance@cea.org

4.       student and parent feedback - studentsandparents@cea.org

Please follow the steps below to send questions from you and your colleagues:

1.      Select the mailbox to send an email message to by clicking on the link above – a new email window will open.

2.      Choose ONE of the headings below, and cut and paste it into the subject line of your email:

a.      special education teacher

b.      I teach HS subject - CAPT in my subject

c.       I teach MS or HS subject - no CAPT or CMT in my subject

d.      I teach in regular elementary class – students take CMT

e.      I teach in regular elementary class - students do not take CMT

f.        My field is guidance, social worker, psychologist

g.      I do not teach students directly

3.      Type only your question in the body of the email (please do not give a lot of background information…we’ll contact you if we need more).

4.      Optional – type the district in which you work.

Following these steps will help us sort questions and assure we don’t overlook any.  PEAC met this morning to continue work on the framework for principal evaluation and will meet again later this month.  As work continues over the next several weeks, there will be more changes, more decisions made, and more challenges.  CEA will keep you informed via email, the CEA web site, and information provided to your local association president and Uni Serv representative.  Thank you for continuing to help us advocate for you and our students!

Best regards,

Phil Apruzzese Mary Loftus Levine

CEA President             CEA Executive Director

Attend one of these free upcoming reforums and find out how you can help Take Back Your Profession. Registration begins at 3:30 pm and the program runs from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.

Monday, January 30, 2012 3:30 PM - 6:00 PM (Eastern Time)

To register for one of these reforums, click here

UCONN Men’s & Women’s Basketball at the XL Center

Just $15 Men’s Tickets and $10 Women’s Tickets

As a thank you for all that you do in educating students throughout New Canaan, we are offering the same teacher discount to UConn games at the XL Center that was offered last year but are offering it for 7 games instead of just 2!

Don’t miss your opportunity to see Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz Napier, Alex Oriakhi, top recruit Andre Drummond, and the rest of the UConn Huskies defend their National & Big East Championships at the XL Center.  Check out some of the excitement the Huskies promise to bring to the XL Center displayed in their Slam Dunk Contest from First Night.

Dates include SEC – Big East Showdown with Arkansas and a Big East Battle with upstart St. John’s.

Or if you prefer women’s basketball, come see Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, and the UConn Huskies defend their Big East Championship.

Check out the new UConn WBB site to get ready for the upcoming season - http://www.uconnwbb.com/. Dates include Stanford, who ended the UConn Women’s 90 game win streak last season, and defending national champion Texas A&M.

The games that are offered through the link below are:

UConn Women                                              UConn Men

Stanford – November 21^st 7 pm                  Arkansas – December 3^rd 3:15 pm

Texas A&M – December 6^th 7 pm                Holy Cross – December 18^th 1 pm

West Virginia – January 4^th 7 pm                 Fairfield – December 22^nd 7 pm

St. John’s – December 31^st 12 pm

Seton Hall – February 4^th 12 pm

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS – PROMO CODE: TEACHERS

***If you cannot click link above please use this address:

https://oss.ticketmaster.com/html/group_corp_start.htmI?l=EN&team=wolfpack&owner=2138198&group=489&err=&event=&customerID=

*Offer for each game expires 2 days prior to game date. Tickets are available on a limited basis.  If you have any issues please call Brian Glynn at 860-524-5794 or email atbglynn@xlcenter.com.  All children over the age of 2 need a ticket.  All seats are in the upper level.

Here are the directions to purchase your discounted tickets!

Step-by-Step Ordering Process:

Page 1 - Click on 'Find Tickets'

Page 2 - Fill in the Special Offer Code (refer to event), leave email address blank, and click 'Verify'

Page 3 - Look to far right side 'Create an Account' box and enter your email then click 'Sign Up Now'

Page 4 - Fill out personal info, pick password then click 'Continue'

Page 5 - Select number of tickets and click 'Continue'

Page 6 - Confirm seat location and click 'Continue'

Page 7 - Enter billing and payment info, click 'Submit Order'

Printing Tickets: You will receive a file attachment via email that contains your tickets. Open the attachment and simply print the file.  These print outs will be your tickets for the game. Can't print in your office? Email the file attachment to another computer that you can print your tickets on.

This offer is not good through Ticketmaster or the XL Center Box office. - All tickets are sold on a first come, first serve basis.

I hope to see you at the XL Center soon!

BRIAN GLYNN | Account Executive

bglynn@xlcenter.com | 860-524-5794

Dear CEA Member:

Congress has begun reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as No Child Left Behind.  I am in Washington, D.C., meeting with Senator Blumenthal, who is on the HELP (Health Education Labor and Pension) committee in charge of this legislation.  I will also be in touch with Senator Lieberman to encourage him to do the right thing.

I need your help to ensure Senator Blumenthal and Senator Lieberman hear us every step of the way.  Our voice needs to be clear: Students and teachers across our country and in our state deserve better than what is being proposed.  To do this, I need you to contact Senators Blumenthal and Lieberman.  Below are some points as well as a link to the NEA web site you can use as a guide.  Remember, using your own words is always immeasurably more effective than simply forwarding a form letter. 

• Congress has a chance to get it right this time.

• Add multiple measures for school performance.

• Provide for models to turn around struggling schools that are based on research, locally developed ideas and that engage all stakeholders.

• Give teachers a voice in developing effective evaluation systems.

ATTACHED  IS A GUIDE FOR WRITING TO YOUR SENATORS

 E-mail Senators Blumenthal & Lieberman - ask them to ensure ESEA reauthorization is done right. 

 The last time Congress reauthorized ESEA, lawmakers passed No Child Left Behind. 

This time, we need to make Congress pass OUR test – and actually help students and schools.  This time, we want Congress to propose a bill designed to help those in the classroom—students and teachers.

 The Senate HELP committee bill is off to a bad start:

• Still relies heavily on outcomes of test scores instead of supporting true multiple measures of school performance.

• Prescribes top-down models of school turnaround for struggling schools that are not based on research, don’t work, and ignore promising, locally-developed ideas to help students.

We know this is the wrong policy for students and teachers, but there is still time to improve this bill!  That is why I am in Washington, D.C., meeting with our Senators and need you to contact each of them as well.

I am reminding them teachers know what works in classrooms and for students.  I am asking them to stop, think it through, and do ESEA reauthorization in a manner that will benefit our students.  And, I am telling them teachers are aware of what they are doing, we disapprove, and we want positive changes NOW.

If you contact our senators right away, together we can make sure ESEA reauthorization is done right. 

For more information, go to www.educationvotes.org.

SB 11 could help to protect consumers from runaway health insurance cost increases. SB 11 could help to control the cost of individual policies (including long-term care), small employer group health insurance, HMOs, and hospital and medical service corporations.  

What you can do:  

1.  Forward this email to your networks. We need a high volume of calls into the Governor's Office!

2.  Please call the Governor’s Office yourself and urge Governor Malloy to sign SB 11 into law.

The Governor’s Office: (860) 566-4840

Description of SB 11:

The bill calls for the Insurance Commissioner to hold a symposium when any entity files a rate increase of 10% or more at the request of the Attorney General or the Health Care Advocate. The symposium date, time, and place must be conspicuously publicized on the Insurance Department’s website. The bill authorizes the Health Care Advocate, the Attorney General, or both, to present evidence, information, and a closing argument at any rate filing symposium held. It requires the Insurance Commissioner to help these officials obtain the department’s rate filing records. And, in making the decision to approve, disapprove, or modify a rate filing, the Commissioner must consider any oral or written comments made or submitted at each symposium and written comments submitted directly to the Insurance Department.