As Teacher Contract Talks Begin, ConnCAN

Launches Analytical Database

By John Voket

The process of negotiating the next Newtown teachers’ contract has begun, according to Board of Education Chair Debbie Leidlein. Meetings involving the negotiation team for the district and the teachers’ union began Monday, June 18, Ms Leidlein said.

While there is no telling what the eventual outcome of those talks will be, a statewide education initiative called ConnCAN — the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now — has launched a web-based tool to help residents better understand current teacher contracts in their own district, and provides an opportunity to compare contract stipulations with state averages and other individual districts.

ConnCAN was founded in January 2005, when, according to its website, “education entrepreneurs from around the state joined together [around the] fundamental belief that closing Connecticut’s achievement gap requires not only innovative educational models, but also issue-based advocacy that secures systemic change.”

The organization affects its advocacy through research and policy; communications and mobilization; as well as advocacy for policy change.

ConnCAN’s original reports and briefs provide in-depth analyses of public education in Connecticut that serve as the foundation for policy recommendations. The organization claims to inform citizens with a commitment to common sense education reform through a combination of media work, electronic communications and social networking, publications, on-the-ground community organizing, partnerships with like-minded civic and community groups, and events.

Grounded in its research and policy work, ConnCAN’s staff then teams with “citizen advocates and key state officials to develop and enact concrete, meaningful education reforms through both legislative and administrative action.”

According to the database, the current Newtown teacher contract expires June 30, 2013, and under that contract its American Federation of Teachers members are required to work 187 days — one day more than the state average.

The site also notes that Newtown teachers are required to put in about ten minutes more of before and after school time than the state average, and are required to teach five periods at both the elementary and secondary levels.

The ConnCAN site also shows that the maximum Newtown class size from kindergarten through twelfth grade is 30 students, which trends higher than the state average by two to five. The site also shows that except for one classification, Newtown teachers are compensated at a higher rate than state averages.

In contrast to many other districts, local teachers also qualify for a National Certification bonus of $700, paid professional development days, and tuition reimbursement. But Newtown teachers carry significantly fewer days of sick leave compared to the state average, at 150 versus 180 days.

The site also indicates that as of 2012, Newtown teacher evaluation procedures were not part of the contract language. To learn more, visit teachercontracts.conncan.org.