March/April 2012

Governor, legislators hear from educatorsMembers make their voice heard across state

PEAC and teacher evaluations

Continued on Page 5

Backus Hospital management

indicted by NLRB

2

Bill would give family medical leave

to paraprofessionals

3

New leadership at Judicial Professional

Employees

6

State of theUnion

In the State of the State address, Gov-ernor Malloy said “Right now, if you’re a teacher and you have tenure, your

performance in the classroom has to be rated “incompetent” before a dismissal process can even begin. Even then – even if you’re rated “incompetent” – it can take more than a year to dismiss you.

And to earn that tenure – that job security – in today’s system basically the only thing you have to do is show up for four years. Do that, and tenure is yours.”

We all know that tenure is not job security for life. It’s due process and to earn that due process educators have to prove themselves for four years.

Since the legislative session began, members have spoken out. Gov. Mal-loy heard from educators at forums in Hartford, West Hartford, Torrington New Haven and more, where people spoke up and questioned some of his proposals.

Nearly 200 teachers have written letters to Gov. Malloy describing their experiences as new, veteran and retired teachers.

Every week, legislators are receiving postcards of members in our It Takes A Team campaign (see pages 4-5) demon-strating the focus we should be taking to improve education.

“We and CEA are working closely with the Malloy administration and the legislature to take out the parts of the bill to which we object,” said AFT Connecti-cut President Sharon Palmer.

“We will not sit by and let them tamper with collective bargaining or tie evaluations to certification and tenure.”

An analysis of Senate Bill 24 can be found online at ItTakesATeamCT.org

AFT Connecticut and CEA have pre-sented multiple proposals we would like to see included in the bill.

“This bill provides funding for 2000 new charter school seats but only 500 early childhood education seats. We want to see those numbers reversed,” said Palmer.

Three years ago, the state leg-islature created the Perfor-mance Evaluation Advisory

Council (PEAC), which was charged with developing recommendations for teacher evaluations.

AFT Connecticut and CEA have served on PEAC for the past two years and continue to do so. Early on in the process, some members advocated for using standardized test scores as the sole or majority factor in evaluating teachers.

Both unions presented data and evidence to prove that this was the wrong approach. Working together we were able to reduce the use of standardized test scores to 22.5% of an evaluation.

While the framework developed by PEAC was adopted by the State Board of Education, PEAC still has to develop this framwework into an actual system that local districts can build upon to modify their current evaluation process.

For more details about PEAC, t he eva luat ion g uidel ines a nd Senate Bill 24, go to our website: ItTakesATeamCT.org

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Sharon PalmerPresident

Melodie PetersFirst Vice President

Leo CantySecond Vice President

Charles MorrellSecretary/Treasurer

Eric BaileyCommunications Director

STATE OF THE UNION is published on an irregular basis up to six times a year by AFT Connecticut, 35 Marshall Road, Rocky Hill, CT 06067.Phone: 860/257-9782www.aftct.orgThird class postage paid at Hartford, CT

Postmaster: Send address changes to: AFT CONNECTICUT 35 Marshall Road Rocky Hill, CT 06067.

Members: To change your address or subscription, call 860/257-9782.

STATE OF THE UNION is mailed to all AFT Connecticut members as a benefit of membership. Subscription fees are included in dues, $20 per year for non-members. Although advertisements are screened as carefully as possible, acceptance of an advertisement does not imply AFT Connecticut endorsement of the product or service.© AFT CONNECTICUT, AFT, AFL-CIO 2009

Caring for the community

A few mont hs ago, t he St . Vincent de Paul Place food pantr y, which ser ves the

greater Norwich community, put out the call for donations. Their supply of food for the families they service was dangerously low. The Backus Federation of Nurses wasted no time in heeding the call.

Working together with the three union locals at Lawrence & Memo-rial Hospital (Locals 5049, 5051 and 5123) in New London, and AFT Connecticut Community Organizer Dan Durant, the unions reached out to the Gemma E. Moran United Way Labor Food Center to organize a massive food drive.

Over the course of two week-ends, the unions held two food drives at the Stop & Shop stores in Norwich and Groton. Altogether they

collected 2,661 pounds of food and numerous cash donations.

Learn more about the food drive online: aftct.org

Backus Nurses rally for their first contract

The Backus Nurses’ efforts to secure a first contract have dragged on, more than 100 members of the Backus Federation of Nurses rallied outside William

W. Backus Hospital Mar. 19 to let the public know what’s happening at their community hospital. Representatives from unions around the state were there to show their support.

“I’m not here to save the world. I’m here to save my

patients because I am a nurse,” said Michelle Hayes, an RN in maternity and delivery.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy came to the rally to show his continued support for the nurses’ right to negotiate and reach a contract. “All you’re asking for is to be treated fairly, for negotiations to meet appropriate timelines, for a decent wage and decent benefits,” Malloy said.

Management’s latest proposal would raise health insurance premiums by 5 percent per year for full-time nurses and 10 percent per year for part-time nurses, making health insurance unaffordable for many nurses.

“According to the hospital’s proposal, there are many here (who) will no longer be able to afford health insur-ance,” said Hayes. The crowd booed in response.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), issued a labor law violation complaint against the management of Backus Hospital Feb. 29, for denying the nurses the benefits of the mandatory shared rewards program.

This is the latest of six labor violations that Backus management has faced.

You can find more information about the Backus Nurses campaign for a contract online: aftct.org

STATE OF THE UNION 3

New study shows labor-management partnerships improve patient care

Patient care improves and costs come down as a result of labor and management partnerships, ac-cording to a new Cornell University study.

The report, “How Labor-Management Partner-ships Improve Patient Care, Control Costs, and Labor Relations,” profiles joint work involving front-line staff, unions and management at Kaiser Permanente’s San Rafael and San Diego medical centers in California, Fletcher Allen Health Care in Vermont and the Contact Center at Montefiore Medical Center’s Care Management

Corporation (CMO) in New York.At the four facilities studied, joint labor-management

activities have resulted in: Improved turnaround time for test results Increased awareness about workplace safety Improved patient satisfaction scores Quicker access to home care services Less staff turnoverYou can access the full report online: aftct.org

Members testify in favor of FMLA for paraprofessionals

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows workers time off to care for themselves or family members when they are ill. Unfortunately, paraprofession-

als do not currently qualify for FMLA because they are 10-month, hourly employees. When a paraprofessional has been stricken with a serious illnesses, or has a family member who is ill or children that they must take care of, FMLA provides them no opportunity to take time off from work without the risk of losing their job.

Senate Bill 150 would change the requirement and give paraprofessionals access to FMLA.

Theresa Staranchak, president of the New Britain Federation of Paraprofessionals, Local 2407, was among those testifying. "We cannot continue to live everyday with the stress and anxiety of whether or not we will have a job when we may be stricken with illness beyond our control. If we cannot take care of a family member or ourselves and feel confident that our jobs are not at stake, then how do we really stay healthy? Just this year alone three paras were denied FMLA because they do not meet the minimum hours which are 1250. These paras deserve more than this type of treatment. If the amount of hours were lowered then paras could take advantage of this benefit that every other employee has."

Dawn Repoli, a members of the Colchester Federation of Education Personnel, Local 3279, told the committee "Peace of mind is a benefit that all paras could have if you will support this bill and consider passing it. I ask you here today to please give this very unique and commit-ted group of individuals who presently are the only ones that are not benefiting by FMLA, the chance to benefit."

"Paras not being covered by FMLA is a multilayer problem for both the para, the students and their families who depend on them," said Jane Blakeman, a member of Watertown Federation of Paraprofessionals, Local 3960.

"FMLA would have helped me with a surgery I had last year and I was out two weeks. I could not use it, because of the silly two hours I do not have," testified Sarah Dickman, a members of New Britain Federation of Paraprofessionals, Local 2407.

The bill has widespread bi-partisan support. S.B. 150 would reduce the number of hours to 950 hours needed for paraprofessionals to qualify for FMLA benefits. S.B. 150 would incur little or no cost for municipalities and Boards of Education. FMLA benefits are unpaid. When a paraprofessional uses FMLA leave, the district would bring in a substitute, almost always at a lower pay rate. S.B. 150 would allow paraprofessionals to take time off when they or a family member is seriously ill or to be at home after the birth of a child without the fear of losing their job.

You can learn more about SB 150 online: aftct.org

Paraprofessional Gwen Douglas testifies before the Labor and Public Employees Committee

4 STATE OF THE UNION

It’s important that all stakeholders be involved in education reform. We know that delivering a quality education takes a team. From teachers to paraprofessionals, administrators to parents, boards of education to school nurses, everyone has a role in making sure students get the best education possible.

Learn more at ItTakesATeamCT.org

Matt Presser,7th/8th GradeLanguage Arts Teacher

Heather Priest,Culinary Arts Instructor

Sasha Davis,Parent

Maribel Corbett,Social Worker

STATE OF THE UNION 5

Jared Boulet,Paraprofessional

Kaitlin Krusewski,School Nurse

Deirdre Howard,Executive Assistant

Karen King,5th Grade Teacher

Quality education agenda, continued

It’s important to note that the evaluation guidelines developed by the Performance Evaluation Advisory Com-mittee (PEAC) were only guidelines, and student testing only accounts for 22.5% of that evaluation.

“The evaluation system has not yet been developed and how it fits in with local districts will be determined by those districts and their teachers,” said Palmer. “Gov. Malloy keeps saying we have agreed to a system, but the truth is we agreed to guidelines. The system has yet to be developed.”

Members can keep up to date on the latest information on what’s happening with the bill by going to our website: ItTakesATeamCT.org

“We need members to keep up the pressure by contact-ing their legislators,” added Palmer. “By working on this critical issue from both the inside and the outside, we stand a much better chance of succeeding and bringing about legislation that will improve education for every child in Connecticut.”

6 STATE OF THE UNION

Experts correct myths about public employee pensions

New leadership at Judicial Professional Employees

In politics and policymaking, the facts aren't always convenient. Such is the case with public employee defined-benefit retirement plans and the policymak-

ers who want to dismantle them.A panel of state leaders and national experts gathered

Jan. 19 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to talk about the facts. Public employee defined-benefit plans keep an estimated 5 million senior Americans out of poverty and off government assistance, contribute more than $358 billion in economic output nationwide and create more than 2.5 million jobs. They also are cost-effective—risk is pooled and administrative costs are low, thanks to the economies of scale.

The forum, sponsored by the National Public Pension Coalition, featured Thomas P. DiNapoli, New York state comptroller; Janet Cowell, North Carolina state treasurer; Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and

Policy Research; Hank Kim, executive director and coun-sel for the National Conference on Public Employee Re-tirement Systems; and Dolores Bresette, a retired Rhode Island state employee.

"We have a crisis here that has been invented," said Baker, an economist, noting that $800 billion of the estimated $1 trillion cumulative shortfall in public defined-benefit plans is attributable to the market crash in 2008-09. The shortfall is manageable, he said, pointing out that the size of the economy is the relevant denomina-tor; realistically, the plans have 30 years to make up the lost ground from the market losses.

DiNapoli and Cowell, who oversee their respective state plans, dispelled the myth that public employees are retiring with $100,000-plus defined-benefit pensions.

Learn more about the truth about pensions online: aftct.org

Judicial Professional Employees, Local 4200B, have new leader-ship in place and they are work-

ing harder than ever to strengthen the voice of their members.

John Satti was elected president after serving as the Juvenile Proba-tion Officer Representative for the past two years. He also has served as a union steward for more than 20 years. A CSSD employee for the past 22 years, John had been a Juvenile Probation Officer for 11 years.

James Romano was elected vice president. This is the first time he has held a union office. Jim is an Adult Probation Officer II/Warrant Officer in New London and has 17 years on the job.

Carmen Roda was elected secre-tary and is an Adult Probation Officer II in Bridgeport. He has served on the Union Executive Board in the past.

Kimberly Smith was elected treasurer and is a Juvenile Proba-tion Officer II in Waterford and has worked for the Judicial Branch for 16 years. She is a first-term Executive Board Member.

The other members of the leader-ship team include Anthony “Tony” Leone, Adult Probation Officer Rep.

Randy Parisi, Adult Probation Officer Rep.

Mary Fortier, All Other Groups Rep.

Deborah Kern, Family Relation Counselor Rep.

Andrew Spurrier, Family/Sup-port Supervisor Rep.

Tara Bartlett, JD Assistant Clerk Rep.

Francis Okam, Juvenile Proba-tion Officer Rep.

Terry Ward, Support Enforce-ment Rep.

John SattiPresident

James RomanoVice President

Carmen RodaSecretary

Kimberly SmithTreasurer

STATE OF THE UNION 7

Survey shows low level of teacher job satisfaction

The latest "MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Teach-ers, Parents and the Economy"

shows that education budget cuts to public schools and the demonization of teachers have taken a toll on teach-ers' job satisfaction, AFT president Randi Weingarten says. And that jeopardizes student success.

"Often, we hear how important teachers are. But this survey tells us what teachers themselves are thinking, and it's very sobering,"

Weingarten says. "Teachers are tell-ing us they have the lowest level of job satisfaction in more than two decades and that a growing number are planning to leave the profession.

Some key findings from "The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Teachers, Parents and the Economy":

Teacher satisfaction has de-creased by 15 points since "The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher" measured job satisfaction

two years ago, now reaching the lowest level of job satisfaction seen in the survey series in more than two decades.

This decline in teacher satisfac-tion is coupled with large increases in the number of teachers who indi-cate they are likely to leave teaching for another occupation, and in the number who do not feel their jobs are secure.

You can access the entire survey online: aftct.org

Overdue minimum wage increase proposed

On Jan. 31, Speaker of the House Chris Donovan and Democratic law-makers proposed the minimum wage be raised by $1.50 per hour over the next two years, and indexed to rise with the cost of living.

This proposal would raise the minimum wage from $8.25 to $9.00 an hour this year and to $9.75 next year. After that, the wage would rise automatically as the Consumer Price Index rises.

"The current minimum wage is not enough for working families to get by", said Donovan. "About 106,000 people in Connecticut earn the minimum wage and around 83 percent of them are over the age of 20, he said. "Many of the jobs that the state has gained as its worked its way out of the recession have been low paying," Donovan added.

"This change has been long overdue," said Sharon Palmer, president of AFT Connecticut. "It has been years since we increased the minimum wage. Where we used to be a leader, Connecticut is now behind many other states."

If Connecticut moved to an indexed minimum wage it would join nine other states that have adopted a similar system.

Learn more about the minimum wage online: aftct.org

State teachers join common core standards team

The American Federation of Teachers recently invited 7 teachers to join its Common Core State Standards Teacher Work Team. These teachers worked on Math

and ELA standards in order to guide the AFT efforts to ensure that teachers are involved in all aspects of the implementation of the CCSS. Teachers will take part in several meetings during the year and the first one was held in early February. Writers of the standards and spokespersons from the consortiums PARCC and Smarter Balance spoke to the group.

The AFT is attempting to make sure that teacher voices are heard and have been working toward this since 2009. As a result, teachers have been instrumental in revising the standards to their current form. This work has been lauded by the writers of the standards, the National Governors Association and the Chief State School Officers.

In 2010, the AFT created a committee to formulate recommendations for the introduction of the standards and that committee developed 38 recommendations. These recommendations are intended to facilitate the implementation of the standards.

The following teachers are on a new expanded team that will continue this important work. They have already spent hours beginning this work and two of them have been invited to serve on the Science Team.

Anita Gennaro, Kari Baransky and Maura Graham Veccellio from Meriden

Eric Boehm, William McKinney, and Tim Shortt from New Haven

Susan Schmidt from New BritainYou can learn more about the common core standards

online: aftct.org

8 STATE OF THE UNION

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paiDHartforD Ctpermit # 4501

Great Schools For All ChildrenSharon Palmer, AFT Connecticut President

Connecticut is home to some of the nation’s highest-performing school districts. But we also have one the largest gaps between our strongest schools and those

that are struggling – particularly for low- and moderate-income communities. This is an issue whose time has come. Our goal should be nothing less than a public education system that offers an excellent education to every single child. To do this we must use an empirical approach to education policy, using evidence – not ideology – and building on what works. And we must approach the problem collaboratively, involving all of the stakeholders including parents, administrators, teachers, and the community.

The data paints a compelling picture. On average, Con-necticut’s public education system ranks among the best in the nation in academic performance. It’s a record of which we can be proud. But a closer look reveals a wide gap in educational attainment between our affluent areas and our low-income communities.

Low income students perform roughly half as well as non-low-income students on standardized tests. They also have a substantially lower graduation rate. Although policy makers often call this an “achievement” gap, the reality is that the gap begins at a very young age. According to the CT Dept. of Education, only 40% of pre-schoolers are fully ready for school learning.

These are not easy challenges to address. We should start by learning what is working in schools where students excel. Connecticut is home to some of the best schools in the country, after all. What makes these schools effective? To listen to some, it must be because these schools use “merit pay” for teachers or don’t allow teachers to have the job security that comes with a due process system. Or it is because these schools have adopted “market-based” school choice systems.

Of course, there’s one problem with those assertions: they are not true. Our most successful school districts have been able to attract and retain excellent teachers using the carrot, not the stick.

When I began my career as a science teacher I certainly wasn’t motivated by material gain – I could have chosen far more lucrative careers. I chose to teach for the same reason that motivates 45,000 teachers in Connecticut – to make a difference in the lives of children. Not only to impart knowl-edge, but to instill a love of learning. I also realized quickly that teachers, like most professionals, do their best work when they feel valued, appreciated, and supported.

Controversial and polarizing attacks on teachers might make good headlines, but there’s no evidence that they make good policy. Rather we should pursue a collaborative approach that values the contributions and ideas of all stakeholders. Common sense and empirically driven solutions – like smaller class sizes – should be at the top of our agenda.

Finally, lets remember that education does not happen in a vacuum. The single biggest factor in explaining educational disparities is poverty – no informed and reasonable person denies this basic fact. It’s true that we cannot use poverty as an excuse to allow Connecticut’s education gap to persist. But we must also not deny the impact that poverty has on our chil-dren’s ability to learn. And we cannot make excuses for poverty.

This is why, in addition to supporting common sense education reforms, our union champions the elimination of poverty by raising the minimum wage to a living wage, fighting against predatory lending, and demanding a fair economy for the 99%. Connecticut is an unequal state in terms of incomes and wealth, not only education. We can achieve fairness in education and a fair economy, but not one without the other. And that is a cause all of us can agree on.