Early Education

Anxiety and Trauma Top Challenges Facing Students, Survey Finds

Wed, 02/19/2020 - 6:30pm
HARTFORD - Connecticut is ranked among the best states in the country for K-12 education; however, findings from a new 2020 CEA/AFT CT/WFSB survey should raise alarms. Teachers increasingly find themselves in unsafe work environments, encountering more children impacted by trauma or anxiety, and dealing with a persistent shortage of school counselors, social workers and other supports necessary for their students.
 
Click here for an executive summary of the results.
 

New Courant Ad Asks for Budget Fairness

Wed, 02/17/2016 - 11:30am
Hartford - The American Federation of Teachers and AFT Connecticut call on Gov. Dannel Malloy and the state legislature to ask the richest residents to pay their fair share of taxes to avert budget cuts that would hurt virtually all Connecticut families.
 
"Connecticut doesn't have a budget problem. Connecticut has a fairness problem," says a full-page ad in The Courant today, purchased by the AFT and AFT Connecticut.
 
Click here to view the ad.
 

Better Choices than Suspending Young Students

Thu, 11/12/2015 - 4:30pm
The question of appropriate, effective responses for student misbehavior was the thorny issue addressed last week when AFT and the Albert Shanker Institute brought together a distinguished panel of experts. The goal was a conversation about positive alternatives to suspensions or expulsions in early childhood education (ECE) -- approaches that have been shown to be age-inappropriate and highly ineffective.
 
Click here to watch video of the full forum.
 

Bipartisan ESEA Bill: A Step Forward

Thu, 04/09/2015 - 5:00pm
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization proposal announced this week shows that, even in the current climate, it's possible to find common ground by listening to teachers, parents and other voices in education. U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) -- the chair and the ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee -- on Tuesday unveiled a bipartisan bill reauthorizing the law, known in its current form as No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
 
Click here for a bill summary from the HELP Committee.
 

Norwalk Literacy Program Wins Wide Acclaim

Fri, 03/27/2015 - 12:00pm
A program to help parents foster literacy and numeracy skills in PreK-2 students earlier this month debuted a new module in the auditorium of a Norwalk elementary school. The event left no doubt that this educator-designed training has won solid support throughout the community and done it in less than a year.
 
Click here for press coverage of the event.
 

Child Poverty: Moving in the Wrong Direction

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 6:00pm
We hear that the global recession has abated, but for many families around the country, the impact of this crisis still reverberates. AFT has studied child poverty statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and has used the data to unmask disparities in educational equity. 
 
Click here to urge your elected representatives to take action to reverse the trend.
 

Connecticut Receives Resources to Expand Pre-K Resources

Thu, 12/11/2014 - 5:30pm
At the kick-off of the White House Summit on Early Childhood Education officials yesterday announced more than $1 billion in public and private investment in early learning programs, including a $12.5 million grant for Connecticut. The funds will enable more than 400 children from low-income families to attend preschool and improve the quality of publicly-funded PreK for another nearly 300 children in our state.
 

National Teacher Appreciation Week

Tue, 05/06/2014 - 6:00pm
Coinciding with National Teacher Day, Governor Dannel P. Malloy today signed a proclamation honoring Connecticut’s education professionals during the week set aside to recognize their contributions to our communities. The governor and Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman also shared photos of themselves with personal #ThankATeacher messages as part of a coordinated national action supported by AFT Connecticut.
 
Click here for the governor’s press statement and both #ThankATeacher photos.
 
 
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