Reports

Time to be "All In" for Better Choices at the Capitol

Wed, 02/08/2017 - 6:45pm
The governor in his annual state budget address today presented numerous proposals that will have significant implications for every one of our union members and their families. His plan to close shortfalls in the 2018-19 fiscal year won't just impact teachers and classroom aides, higher education faculty, nurses and caregivers, probation officers and revenue collectors. Students, patients and all who depend on our members will also feel the effects of funding changes and cuts for vital state and local public health, education, and safety services.
 
Click here for the governor's full speech to the General Assembly.
 

Raising Our Voices Together in 2017

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 4:45pm
Everyone in Connecticut will be impacted by the issues raised today at the Capitol in Hartford in Governor Dannel P. Malloy's annual "State of the State" speech. For our union members who provide education, health, safety, and other vital public services that depend on lawmakers to adequately fund them, his words carried particular resonance. That's because the budget the governor proposes next month will have significant consequences for their students, their patients and their communities.
 
Click here for the governor's full speech.
 

Public Sector Compensation Myths Debunked

Thu, 12/15/2016 - 1:00pm
A respected non-partisan research organization has exposed a deceptive attack on Connecticut public employees designed to diminish the effectiveness of the vital services they deliver. An Economic Policy Institute (EPI) study released last week discredits oft-repeated claims by anti-union special interests that public-sector workers in Connecticut are “overcompensated."
 
Click here for the study.
 

Labor Day 2016: Why America Needs a Strong Movement for Working People

Mon, 09/05/2016 - 12:30pm
Our national union president in her annual Labor Day message reminds us how a strong labor movement has helped workers, our communities, the economy and our democracy grow and thrive. Randi Weingarten additionally uses the occasion to call on all our members to join her in taking action to support policies that make it easier, not harder, to join a union:
 

Reigning-In Predatory For-Profit Colleges

Mon, 06/27/2016 - 3:30pm
Leading the charge to clean up exploitative policies and practices hurting students in higher education — and costing all taxpayers — is a new report released last week by our national union. Among highlights are the 2014 collapse of Corinthian Colleges as both an example and a call to action for increased oversight of the growing for-profit higher education "industry."
 
Click here for the full report.
 

Summit Gives Full Context to Challenge of Teacher Diversity

Tue, 05/17/2016 - 3:30pm
Key public education stakeholders earlier this month convened to address efforts to attract, prepare and retain a teaching workforce that reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of our nation's students. The May 6 summit in Washington, D.C. drew participation from a full spectrum of organizations and individuals grappling with the issue and was co-sponsored by our national union.
 

Talking Teacher Tenure

Tue, 01/19/2016 - 4:30pm
The issue of due process for PreK-12 teachers last week ignited a spirited exchange during a “Reclaiming the Promise of Public Education” panel discussion at the Albert Shanker Institute. "Teacher Tenure: An Outmoded 'Job For Life' or Essential Right to Due Process?" was the topic when some of education's major thought leaders gathered at AFT national union headquarters. The January 13 discussion was also live-streamed online to a national audience.
 
Click here to watch the full forum.
 

Is There a Public Sector Retirement Crisis?

Fri, 03/13/2015 - 4:30pm
A panel of nationally known experts on pensions -- particularly, on retirement plans for public employees -- gathered this week at AFT's national headquarters to debate the question of whether there is a pension crisis in the country. The event was the latest installment in the Reclaiming the Promise of Public Education Conversation Series, sponsored by the AFT and the Albert Shanker Institute.
 
Click here to watch the introduction to the March 11 event.
 

Child Poverty: Moving in the Wrong Direction

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 6:00pm
We hear that the global recession has abated, but for many families around the country, the impact of this crisis still reverberates. AFT has studied child poverty statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and has used the data to unmask disparities in educational equity. 
 
Click here to urge your elected representatives to take action to reverse the trend.
 

"Pensionomics 2014:" Retirement Security is Good for the Economy

Wed, 08/06/2014 - 3:00pm
A new economic analysis from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) finds that defined benefit (DB) pensions have a significant impact: 6.2 million American jobs and $943 billion in economic output. In Connecticut alone, the study finds that each taxpayer dollar invested in state and local plans supports $3.99 in total economic activity -- an overall economic impact of $6.6 billion.
 
Click here for a two-page summary of the study's key findings for Connecticut.
 
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