The Words of CT State Representative David Arconti Jr.

The Democrats are finally waking up:


Rep. David Arconti Jr. posted this on the NewsTimes:

A few weeks ago I attended the Fairfield County Regional Connecticut Education Association meeting in Trumbull. I want to thank the 50 teachers from Danbury who attended and shared their experiences with me. It was a great event and I must say I learned a great deal from them and left inspired.

Our own Danbury High School mathematics teacher, Steve Golden, who was my sophomore geometry instructor, stood up on his chair and gave a very impassioned speech to the 400-plus attendees in the grand ballroom. I could not have been more proud to be representing Danbury.

I was very happy when I learned the governor and our legislative leaders asked the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council to give school districts the flexibility to delay the new teacher evaluation system.

That is a great first step, but more work needs to be done. It is crucial we focus our energy and efforts on professional support for our teachers.

We do not want to confine our teachers with the new parameters of the evaluation system by forcing them to "teach to the test." If we do that, we are undermining our public education system, which is a cornerstone of our democracy.

Over the next few weeks, I plan to get together with a number of teachers throughout the city to listen to their concerns regarding Common Core and the new evaluation system because I was not in the legislature during the passage of the Education Reform bill.

I am generally not a supporter of a one-size-fits-all approach to education -- the last thing we want to do as policy makers is rob teachers of the flexibility and creativity to educate and properly prepare our students for adult life.

When it comes to standardized tests, there is nothing I learned from taking them that I can apply to my professional or personal life. On the contrary, the best lessons I learned came from teachers such as Rich Holmes, Jose Vas and Andee Nunn, among many others, who had the flexibility to educate us, utilizing their experiences the best way they saw fit.

I believe that investing in education will be a major contributor to helping our students across the state get on the right path to a successful professional future.

Our teachers need our support to make sure they not only have the resources, but the discretion to teach children according to their individual learning styles.

We face tough challenges ahead as we continue our focus on improving our economy and helping our struggling families. I am pleased to see education is on top of the priority list and I look forward to my work in the legislature to find a practical balance where both our students and teachers can work toward a brighter and a more promising tomorrow.