Teachers unions blast Malloy education agenda

Any hope that remained that the state’s teachers unions would be backing Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s education package quickly left the state Capitol complex Tuesday.

“On behalf of the 43,000 members of the Connecticut Education Association, I urge you to reject Senate Bill 24,” Phil Apruzzese’s, the president of the state’s largest teachers union, testimony for the Education Committee reads.

The leader of the other union is just as harsh in her testimony.

“This is very heavy-handed to say the least,” said Sharon Palmer, president of the state’s chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, on a teacher losing the ability to teach in every school district because of a bad evaluation in one district. “This bill revokes some of the rights of our members while asking us to work harder to improve student success.”

By 11:00 a.m., three hours before the public hearing on the governor’s proposed changes, more than 50 teachers had signed up to testify against the bill.

Malloy plans to testify before the committee at 1:15 p.m.