HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Some unionized Connecticut educators wore black to work Wednesday to draw attention to their demands for more rapid test kits in schools and flexibility in allowing for short-term remote learning during outbreaks.
Others wore red, saying they oppose the idea of going back to any online teaching and would like to see an easing of some COVID-19 protocols.
The wearing black demonstration was organized by a coalition of education labor groups, who asserted that a majority of their 60,000 members were unable to access testing or masks upon returning to school from the holiday break Jan. 3.
“I had schools that opened this week and still didn’t have masks, and that’s problematic,” Kate Dias, president of Connecticut Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union, said in a statement.
The unions held rallies outside of some schools Wednesday morning as children arrived.
“I would like to see more cleaning and safety materials provided, you know, to clean the desks in between students," Alys Cross, a Windsor High School Teacher, told NBC Connecticut during a demonstration outside that school.
But Ellington High School history teacher Aaron Hoffman said he and the others wearing red believe remote learning does more to harm students than the virus.
“They are disengaged, depressed, and have excessive anxiety,” he said.
Staff shortages have led to short term closures of schools in several districts, which prompted Gov. Ned Lamont to issue an executive order Tuesday, making it easier for retired teachers to come back into the classroom.
The order relaxes statutory salary and staffing restrictions the governor's office said prevented some former educators from coming out of retirement.
“This executive order is a critical step to providing...
