September/October 2012

Sharon Palmer to lead Labor DepartmentCollaboration leads to unique arrangement

Teachers, unions demonized by Hollywood fiction

Continued on Page 5

Justice for paraprofessionals

at last

2

White House honors AFT members as

‘Champions of Change’

3

One vote made the difference on Election Day

4

State of theUnion

Governor Dannel P. Mal-loy has appointed AFT Connecticut President

Sharon Palmer to lead Con-necticut’s Department of La-bor.

“For more than two de-cades, Sharon has been a tireless advocate for working people from all walks of life in the state of Connecticut,” said Governor Malloy. “Sharon has spent many, many years fight-ing for something I believe in deeply: the right to organize and collectively bargain for good wages and good benefits. I’m thrilled she’s accepted this appointment, and look forward to serving the people of Connecticut with her on our team.”

Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman remarked, “I have known and worked with Sharon for many years and am thrilled that she is join-ing our team. The people of Connecticut will soon learn that she fully shares our administration’s commitment to growing our workforce, expanding training and employment opportunities and making

sure our workers are treated fairly and have a safe working environment.”

“I want to thank Governor Malloy for this opportunity,” said Sharon Palmer. “Governor Malloy is a strong supporter of the rights of working people, and he under-stands that change is best achieved when labor and management work together.”

With more than two decades of labor relations experience Sharon will be work-ing to move the labor department forward

Won’t Back Down” is the fic-tional account of a school in Pennsylvania where a

parent and a teacher utilize their version of “parent trigger” to remake their school.

While Hollywood uses a less than accurate portrayal of teach-ers and unions, this movie is an opportunity to discuss what is re-ally needed to ensure that every school provides every child with the best possible education. And we also must ensure that “Won’t Back Down” doesn’t backslide our communities, parents and teachers into a “blame game.” Only by work-ing together for solutions can we turn around fail-ing schools.

You can get the facts about “par-ent trigger” a nd who is funding this m o v i e o n our website aftct.org.

Phot

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iley

AFT Connecticut President Sharon Palmer accepting Gov. Malloy’s nomination as Labor Commissioner

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

Justice for paraprofessionals at last

School paraprofessionals in Con-necticut achieved long overdue rights under the Family Medical

Leave Act (FMLA) when Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed into law Public Act 12-43 during a ceremony Aug. 3 at the State Capitol.

“This is a great day for all para-professionals in Connecticut,” said Shellye Davis, Co-President of Hartford Federation of Paraprofessionals Local 2221. “I hope this law sets a precedent for all states.”

FMLA allows workers time off to care for themselves or family members when they are ill. But paraprofes-sionals have been unable to qualify for FMLA because as 10-month employees they fell short of the 1,250 annual work hours required under law.

P.A. 12-43 corrects this injustice and allows para-professionals receive the same FMLA benefits that other workers receive if they work 950 hours a year.

“It’s only fair that paraprofessionals have the same access to FMLA that other employees have,” said Davis. “No worker should fear losing their job because they need time to take care of themselves, their children or another family member.”

A coalition of labor unions that represent paraprofes-sionals, including Council 4, AFT Connecticut and CSEA, successfully lobbied for passage of the law during the 2012 legislative session. The bill gained unanimous approval in the Senate and passed the House of Representatives 132-9.

“This is a great victory for our members,” said Sharon Palmer, president of AFT Connecticut. “It is a shining example of the positive impact our union can have on the legislative process.”

Parent teacher conference help

For new and even veter-an teachers,

t he f i rst parent teacher confer-ences of the year can be daunting. AFT Connecticut, a long w it h t he New Haven Fed-eration of Teachers, Local 933, has created two video to help teachers prepare for their upcoming parent teacher conferences. Go to the professional development section of our website at aftct.org to watch these informative videos.

17th Annual New England Conference on Multicultural Education (NECME)

Central CT State Univ.New Britain, CT,

Thurs. Oct. 18, 2012

8:30-4:00 pm

Register at www.necme.org

Three Dynamic Keynote Presentations:Jacqueline Jordan Irvine - “Using Culturally Responsive Teaching to Close the Achievement Gap: Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Applications” Christine Sleeter - “Yes, even Chemistry! Adapting your Curriculum and Teaching Methods for Multicultural Education.” Lee Mun Wah - “The World Is All Around Us- Creating a Culturally Responsive Classroom.”

STATE OF THE UNION 3

AFT members honored as ‘Champions of Change’

Three AFT members were honored as “School Turn-around Champions of Change” at the White House on Aug. 21. The honorees are David Cicarella, presi-

dent of the New Haven Federation of Teachers; Kristen Hayes, an art teacher at Savoy Elementary School in Washington, D.C.; and Edward Wiest, a math teacher at Plenty Coups High School on the Crow Reservation in Pryor, Mont.

The White House event recognized several leaders who have helped implement dramatic changes in some of the country’s lowest-performing schools to improve student outcomes and close achievement gaps.

To improve student and teacher performance and re-verse a confrontational labor-management relationship, the Cicarella-led New Haven Federation of Teachers initi-ated a national model for school improvement. Through a highly collaborative process between the union, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. and Superintendent Reginald Mayo, a reform initiative was negotiated at the bargaining table in October 2009. It includes a progressive teacher evaluation system that provides continuous assistance to struggling teachers and removes chronically ineffective teachers. It also includes wraparound services for turnaround schools as well as increased teacher input and flexibility at the school level to adopt changes that school staff and the principal believe are necessary to help kids.

“While I’m thrilled to receive this high honor,” Ci-carella says, “I prefer to accept it as a group award for the collaborative efforts we made to improve teaching and learning.”

Collaboration was key to developing and implement-ing the New Haven initiative, which other school districts are using as a model.

Each of the AFT honorees also has a post about them on the White House’s Champions of Change blog.

in protecting the rights of working people across Connecticut.“This is an opportunity to work with our governor and

legislature to ensure that the rights of working people are respected,” says Palmer. “From workplace safety to the right to form a union, standing up for workers statewide will be our goal.”

Sharon has served as president of AFT Connecticut since 2003. She also has more than 20 years of classroom experience as a public school teacher, primarily in the Waterford Public School System. In addition to her extensive professional experience, Ms. Palmer has served on the Waterford Repre-sentative Town Meeting for the past 19 years. She also just recently stepped down from serving on the State Treasurers’ Investment Advisory Board.

Sharon has accomplished much during her term as president of AFT Connecticut including:

• Education reform that emphasizes training and development for teachers.

• Access to Family Medical Leave for Paraprofession-als.

• Access to healthcare for municipalities, non-profits and small businesses through the state employee health pool.

• Strengthening the Teachers’ Retirement Fund.• Protecting and preserving collective bargaining

rights for public employees.

• Restoration of the adult education Licensed Practi-cal Nurse program in vocational-technical schools.

“It has been an honor serving as a leader of our union and I will continue to represent our members and all working people as Connecticut’s Labor Commissioner,” said Palmer.

New labor commissioner continued from Page 1

AFTCT Pres. Sharon Palmer, AFT Pres. Randi Weingarten and U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy in New Britain speaking in favor of the Jobs Bill which would increase education funding.

4 STATE OF THE UNION

What a difference a vote makes

Just one vote. That was all it took to make the differ-ence in the primary on August 14.

At the end of the night, the votes in the 5th as-sembly district showed a tie between AFT Connecticut Second Vice President Leo Canty and Brandon McGee. The Secretary of the State’s office conducted a recount of the votes in Windsor and Hartford and Canty won by one vote.

The only people who vote more often than union members are seniors. AFT Connecticut and other union members showed up and made the difference.

“I want to thank everyone who came out to vote,” said Canty. “This election was about making sure working families have a strong voice at the capitol. I will be the voice of the ninety-nine percent.”

Canty has been a vocal advocate for AFT Connecticut members for many years. “It’s time to take that advocacy inside the legislature,” Canty added.

Connecticut has seen nu-merous labor union members in the legislature, as well as elections decided by a slim margin.

“This election proved the power one vote has,” said Canty. “Union members who vote in November will be deciding who we send to the White House, congress and the legislature. They hold the power.”

When you compare the candidates on the issues, the choice is clear.That is why the AFT has endorsed Chris Murphy for U.S. Senate

COMPARETHECANDIDATES

Linda McMahonChris MurphyProtecting Jobs

Education

Retirement Security

McMahon has vowed to slash public pro-grams and eliminate positions, “putting the biggest burden on social programs” that help working families. (New Haven Register, 8/5/12)

Murphy opposed massive budget cuts that would have cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and cut vital working family programs and protections, like education and health care. (H.R. 1, Vote 147, 2/19/11)

Murphy supported the American Jobs Act which would have funded bringing 300,000 teachers back to classrooms across America and provided funds for repairing schools.

At a time when school districts are tight-ening their budgets, McMahon supports a voucher program to take resources from our public schools to fund private schools. (Candidate website, accessed 8/15/12)

Murphy opposed the Romney-Ryan plan to privatize Medicare and replace it with a voucher program. He safeguarded guaranteed benefits for seniors today and in the future. (H.Con.Res. 34, Vote 77, 5/25/11)

McMahon won’t commit to protecting Medicare and Social Security for fu-ture retirees, and supports proposals to privatize the programs and replace them with voucher schemes. (Record-Journal, 7/23/12; CNBC, 8/17/10)

STATE OF THE UNION 5

COMPARETHECANDIDATES

Mitt RomneyBarack ObamaEducation Jobs

Affordable Healthcare for All

Medicare and Social Security

Wants to cut funding for police offi-cers, firefighters and teachers. (Andrew Rosenthal, New York Times, Taking Note, 6/12/12.)

Signed the American Recovery and Re-investment Act protecting critical public services and stabilizing communities. The ARRA saved or created approxi-mately 300,000 education and public service jobs. (Cynthia McCabe and Tim Walker, nea.org, 2/17/10.)

Signed the landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 30 million, guarantee insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and allow parents to keep their children on their insurance plans until age 26. (Josh Levs, “What the Health Care Rul-ing Means to You,” CNN, 6/28/12.)

Vowed to “repeal and replace” the Pa-tient Protection and Affordable Care Act, thereby leaving 30 million Americans uninsured and allowing insurance com-panies to deny healthcare coverage due to preexisting conditions. (Ezra Klein, “Romney’s Health Care Plan—or Lack Thereof,” Ezra Klein’s Wonkblog, Wash-ington Post, 6/13/12.)

Wants to secure a future for working Americans by strengthening Social Security and Medicare. He has vowed to fight Romney-supported plans to turn Medicare into a voucher system that would hurt the children, disabled and older people who receive healthcare through Medicare. (www.whitehouse.gov/issues/seniors-and-social-security)

Supports a budget plan that would voucherize Medicare—doubling out-of-pocket expenses of seniors—and lead to privatization of Social Security. The plan takes away the benefits workers have earned and shifts costs to current and future retirees. (Joe Klein, “These Sav-ings Are Unreal!” Time, 4/23/12.)

LABOR2O12

AFL-CIO

“He [Obama] says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”Mitt Romney,June 8, 2012

"I've got a question for Governor Romney. How many teachers' jobs

are worth another tax cut for millionaires

and billionaires?"President Barack Obama,

August 22, 2012

When you compare the candidates on the issues, the choice is clear.That is why the AFT has endorsed President Barack Obama for re-election.

For more information, visit www.aft.org/election2012.

6 STATE OF THE UNION

Romney’s Tax Plan Is a Giveaway for the Wealthy at the Expense of the Middle Class

Share My Lesson contest offers $5,000 toward student loan

Washington Post’s Ezra Klein pointed out hat the difference between Mitt Romney and President Obama’s tax plans is pretty stark.

Klein writes: Romney’s plan is a large tax cut for the top 60 percent, a huge tax cut for the top few percent, and a significant tax increase for the bottom few percent, as he permits a few temporary tax breaks that benefit low-income folks to expire. Obama’s plan keeps the current tax rates for almost everyone but the top few percent, who face a very large tax increase.

Romney and other conservatives howl and whine that millionaires and billionaires—who they refer to as “job creators”—will be strapped and unable “to create jobs” if these overly generous tax breaks are allowed to expire. However, a decade of these Bush tax cuts performed poorly at creating jobs and growing the economy.

Interestingly enough, Romney thinks Social Security, Medicare and other programs that help working families should be cut to reduce the deficit. Allowing Bush tax cuts to expire for the wealthiest Americans—a plan President Obama supports—would save $80 billion in 2013 alone.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priori-ties, the Bush Tax cuts and the recession are the major drivers our deficit—not middle class programs.

In our Meet Mr. 1% infographic titled “Helping the 1%,” you can see Romney’s tax plan would give million-aires an average tax savings of $250,535 and middle class taxpayers $810. His tax plan is designed to make the 1% even wealthier by making Bush tax cuts for higher-income earners permanent and lowering corporate, estate and capital gains taxes.

Share My Lesson, the online collection of teaching resources created by the AFT and TES Connect, announced a new contest on Sept. 11 that brings at-

tention to the website and to the problem of student debt.Student loan debt has piled up to an astounding $1

trillion, leaping over all other household debt, including credit card and housing obligations. The average student debt burden is about $23,000, with 10 percent of borrow-ers owing more than $54,000 and 3 percent more than $100,000. The problem is particularly acute for teachers, who have an average starting salary of $30,000, lower than other white-collar professions.

Share My Lesson has more than 255,000 teaching materials for educators who register, all free of charge. These resources include grade-specific curricula, les-son plans, quizzes and interactive resources for grades pre-K through college. In addition, Share My Lesson has targeted materials to assist teachers with teaching to the Common Core State Standards in their lessons, now required in 46 states and the District of Columbia.

To promote Share My Lesson, we will enter all reg-istrants who have registered by Oct. 31 into a drawing. The winner will receive their choice of $5,000 to be used to help pay off their student loan debt or a $3,500 Visa cash card.

"Teachers want and need the resources, tools and time to help their students succeed. Share My Lesson is a voluminous collection of online teaching materials by teachers, for teachers—and for free," says AFT president Randi Weingarten. "When teachers share their best practices and ideas, it's a win-win for teachers and their students."

STATE OF THE UNION 7

New report blasts working conditions of adjunct faculty

TEACHERS’

OPEIU 376, AFL-CIO amc

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Retirement Specialist:

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Make sure you’re making the right

choices.

Understand your retirement plan

from A to Z.

Continental Breakfast is provided!

There is a $10.00 charge payable in advance

of the seminar.

Please make checks payable to: AFT Connecticut 35 Marshall Road

Rocky Hill, CT 06067

From Hartford: I-91 S to exit 18 merging onto I-691 W. Take exit 8 towards Broad St. Turn right

at the end of exit and follow for about 2 miles, school is on the right.

From New Haven and South:

I-91 N to exit 17 merging onto CT-15 N. Take exit 68W to merge onto I-691 W.

Take exit 8 towards Broad St. Turn right at the end of exit and follow for about

2 miles, school is on the right.

From Middletown: I-691 W to exit 8 towards Broad St.

Turn right at the end of exit and follow for about 2 miles, school is on the right.

From Waterbury: I-84 E to exit 27 merging onto I-691 E.

Take exit 8 towards Broad St. Turn right at the end of exit and follow for about 2 miles,

school is on the right.

Pre-Retirement Seminar The One and ONLY Retirement

Seminar You’ll Need!

Saturday, October 13, 2012 9:00am - 12:00pm Seminar

8:00am Registration and Continental Breakfast

Washington Middle School 1225 N. Broad Street - Meriden

RSVP by October 9th 1-888-398-3373 860-257-9782

The working conditions of U.S. adjunct and con-tingent faculty—and, by association, the learning conditions of American college students—came

under fire in a report issued Aug. 23 by the Center for the Future of Higher Education.

The report, based on a 2011 survey of 500 adjunct faculty, finds two significant issues for those who make up the majority of the higher education workforce. Many are hired "just in time" to teach courses that are to begin three or fewer weeks after faculty are notified, and they have limited access to pedagogical resources.

For example, two-thirds of those responding to the survey reported receiving three weeks' notice or less to prepare for their classes. Almost all (94 percent) of survey respondents received no departmental or institutional campus orientation. In terms of sheer logistical support, respondents reported inadequate access to such basic materials as copying services, library privileges, office space, sample syllabuses and curriculum guidelines.

For more information on the report go to our website aftct.org.

RSVP by October 9th - 860-257-9782

8 STATE OF THE UNION

NoNprofit org.U.S. poStage

paiDHartforD Ctpermit # 4501

The power of unionsSharon Palmer, AFT Connecticut President

For the past twenty-five years I have served as an officer of AFT Connecticut, the last nine as president. During that time I have seen some

amazing things.I’ve watched our union grow in size through our

organizing efforts. Our members have stood up to fight for the rights of working families here in Connecticut and across our country. We’ve seen school superinten-dents and education reform groups come and go with ideas about how to improve education when all they needed to do was ask the educators.

The memories of countless picket lines for our union, a s wel l a s ot her u n ions, w i l l stay w it h me a l w ay s . Some of my proudest moments include marching with members to fight against layoffs of state employees and the We Are One rally to show solidarity with the workers in Wisconsin.

All my life I have spoken out for the rights of work-ers. The right to a living wage, affordable healthcare and a pension you can retire on are the things every workers deserves.

I have worked with public officials at every level of government because I understand that in order to ac-complish what is necessary we have to work together. Electing public officials is no small part of that work and I’m proud to have worked closely with people like Joe Courtney, Chris Murphy and Rosa DeLauro as they made their way from our state to federal offices.

It may seem like every election we say that this one is the most important and it’s true because each election we see that the challenges we face become tougher and tougher.

In the past, candidates who opposed the right to collective bargaining rights for workers never came right out and said it. It’s not like that anymore. Right wing candidates everywhere have made it clear that their goals is to strip workers of their right to a union as well as taking away their pensions.

It is up to all of us to stand up and speak out. By working together and making our col-lective voice heard through our votes we can determine the course our futures

will take.As I prepare to transition into my new role as Labor

Commissioner, I’m looking back on the lessons I’ve learned in our union. I will be taking that knowledge with me and continue to fight for working families in this next phase in my career.

I have witnessed firsthand the power unions have to change lives. From one-on-one organizing in the workplace to grassroots mobilization in our com-munities we have made and will continue to make a difference.

I want to thank all of you for your hard work and dedication to the people you serve and the State of Connecticut. Our state is a better place because of the work you do and our union is stronger because you speak out where there is injustice.

”Our state is a better place because of the work you do and our union is stronger because you speak out where there is injustice.”