Note – updates on the impact of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak on non-certified education staff and members of PSRP local unions will be linked here.
Click here for results of our board of education (BOE) union coalition return to school survey (Jan 11, 2022).
Click here for Department of Public Health (DPH) guidance on mandatory school employee vaccinations (Jan. 4, 2022).
Click here for the state Department of Education (SDE)’s COVID-19 self-test kits distribution plan (Jan. 3, 2022).
Click here for the federal education department website’s COVID-19 resources for schools (Dec. 30, 2021).
Click here for our national union’s COVID-19 resources for education support staff (Aug. 14, 2021).
Click here to access SDE’s “Special Education” portal (Apr. 21, 2021).
Click here for the executive order requiring paid leave for school employees quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure (Feb. 4, 2021).
Click here for our legal counsel’s memo on COVID-19 and employment rights (Jul. 27, 2020).
AFT Connecticut represents thousands of school-related personnel (PSRP) in local and regional districts across the state. PSRPs work as paraprofessionals, teaching assistants, tutors, secretaries, school nurses, custodians and others who provide critical services that support student learning. From contract negotiations to professional development, AFT Connecticut works to secure the pay, benefits, conditions and respect they deserve as both professionals and “the engine that keeps their schools running.”
Click here to follow our national union’s PSRP Twitter feed.
Click here for the state education department website’s School Paraprofessional Advisory Council page.
PSRP News
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Securing ‘Hero Pay’ for Unprecedented Service
Unions in the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC), which includes ten AFT Connecticut-affiliated locals, in the spring of 2022 began negotiations with agency chiefs over pandemic hazard pay. Labor leaders had previously agreed to set the issue aside for future resolution in talks that eventually produced agreements for four-year contracts covering more than 40,000…
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“Having Our Backs Every Step of the Way” Helps Yield Big Gains
It is often said that contractual gains cannot be made at the negotiating table alone; they additionally depend on workplace, community and political collective action. This complete formula is particularly important in order to overcome many historical and structural impediments embedded in many fields and industries. In this collective bargaining report, we’re highlighting a landmark…
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Urging Solutions to the Student Learning Crisis
Everyone deserves a secure retirement – particularly those who have devoted their careers to the common good. Hartford Federation of Teachers – Retired chapter member Margaret Ricks (left, in photo below) and AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel (right) propose this shared value as foundational to solving the nation’s school staffing shortage. Together in a recent…