Melodie Peters, a longtime state senator from the southeastern part of the state, has been named the president of The American Federation of Teachers’ Connecticut Chapter, the state’s second-largest teachers’ union

She is a former nurse, and has no background in teaching. AFT-Connecticut also represents health care workers, higher education faculty and municipal employees. AFT has nearly 29,000 members, of whom 12,000 are teachers.

Peters became president after the former president, Sharon Palmer, was tapped to become the state’s labor commissioner by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

The president plays a very active role in communicating with state legislators. Peters’ term runs through the coming legislative session, or June 30.

Jacqueline was CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter, and an original member of the CT Mirror staff, joining shortly before our January 2010 launch. Her awards include the best-of-show Theodore A. Driscoll Investigative Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 for reporting on inadequate inmate health care, first-place for investigative reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020 for reporting on housing segregation, and two first-place awards from the National Education Writers Association in 2012. She was selected for a prestigious, year-long Propublica Local Reporting Network grant in 2019, exploring a range of affordable and low-income housing issues. Before joining CT Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.

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