Who is CEA and Why Should You Care?

The Connecticut Education Association is a teacher's union representing 43,000 teachers in Connecticut. I first learned about them when a Google Alert brought me to this page where it says:

The State Department of Education is reporting “greater numbers of parents desiring to remove their child(ren) from participation in the statewide testing program.” In response, the department’s Academic Office has issued these suggested protocols and sample letter for districts’ use as part of its December Newsletter.

Beneath this someone had asked "Are you making this public so the word can get out to parents? Is this a proactive warning?"

Certainly I was happy to have this information. It was the first place I had seen it, and I downloaded the documents to be sure I had them if needed. And they actually helped me put an end to the ongoing conversation I was having with my own district about the subject. So I couldn't help wondering if CEA was, in fact, "making this public so the word can get out to parents" since it immediately flooded social media outlets. Importantly, it directly provided parents concrete evidence, straight from the mouth of the CT Department of Education, that we can in fact, opt-out of the tests.

My next contact with CEA was an invite to the Parent Teacher Community Forum that they co-hosted. At that Forum many teachers expressed concern with the testing and the way teachers will be evaluated.

Recently I saw a commercial on TV for CEA:



"For students and families growing more engaged." Yes, we're waking up.

And they must have thought their first Community Forum met the goals they set for it, because they are hosting another one.

It's also interesting to note that CEA has been vocally against Malloy's Education Reform all along, specifically as it relates to teacher evaluations:



Finally, in a Statement from CEA on New Flexibility Options in Teacher Evaluation, President Sheila Cohen writes "While this is a significant improvement for Connecticut students in public schools, it is only a first step in modifying existing guidelines and removing obstacles that hinder a student-focused system of public education."

Yeah, CEA is a union. And some people have problems with unions. And yeah, CEA is obviously doing some fluffing of its own feathers, especially with a commercial, in order to bolster their image and hold their influence this election year. But you know what? Albeit subtly, they are reaching out a hand to parents, even if just to ask us to join them in their fight against evaluations. But given their influence, and thus far parallel ideas regarding testing, I'll take it.