Danbury Teachers Protest School Funding

DANBURY, CT — Scarlet-garbed teachers protested outside of Pembroke Elementary School on Wednesday morning, expressing solidarity with the national "Red for Ed" movement, the News-Times is reporting.

The movement is an initiative created by the National Education Association, the country's largest labor organization, which believes that many teachers aren’t earning enough to make ends meet and finding it harder to support their families, according to the group's website.

The demonstration, which ended before the educators' scheduled 8:30 a.m. start time, was organized locally by NEA-Danbury. Teachers will also not stay in school on Wednesday past their contracted off-duty time on Wednesday as well, in an attempt to draw attention to the extra effort union representatives say teachers typically expend on their jobs.

In the 2019-20 budget recently approved by the City Council, the Board of Education's allocation accounts for $134.4 million, or $5.2 million more than this year. The district is getting $2.2 million more in local funding, and another $2.4 million more in Alliance grant funding.

Teachers are scheduled to re-negotiate their contract in the fall.

For more, see the News-Times.