FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

CT TEACHERS UNION GIVES SEN. CABRERA A GRADE OF 95 FOR THE 2024 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

HARTFORD – The Connecticut Education Association, the state teacher’s union representing more than 43,000 active, retired and aspiring educators, has just released its report card for the 2024 legislative session, and state Senator Jorge Cabrera (D-Hamden) achieved a score of 95, confirming his outstanding commitment to the public policies and budget dollars that make Connecticut teachers and their public school students successful all across the state.

Sen. Cabrera’s score was the third-highest of the 36 state senators. Detailed results of the report card can be found here: https://cea.org/legislator-report-card/?wdt_search=senate

“Connecticut’s exemplary public education system doesn’t occur by accident – it occurs because of a lot of investment by teachers in their students, with the help of state and local governments investing in them too,” Sen. Cabrera said. “I’m proud to do my part to support Connecticut’s hardworking teachers who are educating the next generation for Connecticut to continue moving forward.”

This is the third CEA report card for Sen. Cabrera, who has a lifetime CEA score of 95.8 for voting for the types of pro-public education policies that have made Connecticut’s public school system the second-best in America, according to a WalletHub survey out this week. https://wallethub.com/edu/e/states-with-the-best-schools/5335

The CEA awarded an average score of 90.2 (A-) to the 24 Democratic senators this session, and an average score of 76.5 (C) to the 12 Republican senators.

In past years, the CEA has graded legislators on their support for public education policies such as Cultural Responsiveness, School Counselors, Black and Latino Studies, Minority Teacher Recruitment, Student Mental & Behavioral Health, Protecting Teachers’ Personal Information, Standardized Assessment & Special Education, and Safe Classrooms.

This year, the CEA graded legislators for their votes on:

• House Bill 5436, teacher certification and mandated reporters, for supporting important changes to teacher certification, improvements to mandated reporter procedures, changes to the assessment for teacher preparatory programs, and supports for paraeducators.
• House Bill 5437, Professional Development & School Climate, for supporting and updating professional development requirements and improving school culture and climate.
• Senate Bill 154, Behavior Notification & Assessment Audit, for supporting better student behavior notifications to parents and a standardized assessment audit.
• House Bill 5524 and Senate Bill 5, School Indoor Air Quality, for supporting and expanding Connecticut’s school Indoor Air Quality grant program.
• Senate Bill 14, Goodwin Magnet Teacher Rights, for ensuring teacher rights are maintained at Goodwin University Magnet School.
• House Bill 5523, the 2024 Budget Implementer, for supporting a budget implementer that included $550,000 to the Teachers Retirement Board for Retiree Healthcare and adding CEA to the Education Mandate Review Advisory Council.

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