FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe O’Leary | Joe.OLeary@cga.ct.gov | 508-479-4969

CT TEACHERS UNION GIVES SEN. NEEDLEMAN AN A GRADE FOR THE 2024 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

HARTFORD – The Connecticut Education Association, a 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 Norm Needleman (D-Essex) achieved a 92% score, 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.

“Our schools represent the future of Connecticut and we need to continue providing them with the support necessary to benefit our children and future,” said Sen. Needleman. “I’m proud to have voted for policies helping students and staff foster better environments to learn and grow every day.”

Detailed results of the report card can be found here: https://cea.org/legislator-report-card/?wdt_search=senate

This is the sixth CEA report card for Sen. Needleman, who has a lifetime score of 90% 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.

Sen. Needleman has also worked to secure mental health support funding for local students and roughly $4 million in HVAC and air quality improvements for East Haddam, Old Saybrook, Colchester and Westbrook schools, further reinforcing his support for education locally and statewide.