“It’s sad. It’s disappointing. Teachers are the backbone of our society,” said Paul Apostalon, high school teacher in East Hartford.
Crowds of red filled the capitol on Thursday, urging state leaders to assist in what educators call a crisis in the classroom.
“Since there are less educators coming into the field, the class sizes are increasing, special education is increasing. We need funding for that,” said John Corcoran, former teacher and president of Stamford Education Association.
The legislation in conversation, which died last week in the Appropriations Committee, called for a number of changes that would help with the recruitment, retention and enhancement of Connecticut’s public school teachers.
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“I think some of the things we want–the COVID pension credit, tax credits, the idea of moving to a higher entry point salary-wise - these are big money items, but we have a big problem so big solutions are needed,” said Connecticut Education Association President Kate Dias.
Dias said other aspects of the bills were less fiscally based, but upon review, the committee viewed the total as too much to pass.
“Between the two [bills], we’re looking at $3 billion in spending, and it’s a little tough to try and find a way to wiggle that in,” said State Rep. Tammy Nuccio (R - Tolland), ranking member of the Appropriations Committee.
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But even with the high cost, Nuccio acknowledged the reality of Thursday – that hundreds of people filled the capitol hallways asking for additional legislative support.
“We have to really focus in on what we can do, and what steps we can take to make the environment better because we have a massive shortage in so many fields, teaching being one of them,” Nuccio said.
According to the CEA, the state is down roughly 1,300 educators. While hiring is a problem, they say retention is equally difficult, leading to a whole different challenge.
“More students are in need academically, socially, emotionally than ever, and when you have large class sizes, that makes that that much more of a challenging of a situation,” Apostalon said.
The legislation did pass through the Education Committee before stalling out in Appropriations.
“There was a lot of other policy in these bills that didn’t have dollar amounts on it that I think is worth us finding a vehicle to really review and get something voted on that’s going to help the teachers,” Nuccio said.
