Teachers Union Starts Ad Campaign
By SHELLY BANJO Wall St
Journal Jan 23, 2012
Connecticut's largest teachers union
went on offense Sunday in a looming education reform debate, kicking off a
television advertising campaign during the New York Giants playoff game.
The Connecticut Education Association, which
represents 43,000 public schoolteachers, said the ad will run for two weeks as
part of a larger campaign launched in hopes of shaping the conversation during
next month's state legislative session, which lawmakers have devoted to
education policy.
The 30-second television spot will also
run during a special extended edition of "American Idol." The media
buy will reach only Connecticut
households, union officials said.
While the teachers union declined to
say how much it spent on the ads, it said the high-profile prime-time placement
is part of a strategic move to influence an education debate taking place
across the country.
"We decided to lead and not to sit
back, to come out more assertively this year than in the past instead of just
reacting to what other people say," said Mary Loftus Levine, the union's
executive director.
The public-relations push comes on the
heels of a statewide listening tour by state education commissioner Stefan
Pryor and follows a letter from Democratic Gov. Dannel
Malloy asking state lawmakers to focus on schools in February's legislative
session.
In the letter, the governor said he
wanted to implement a "fair" teacher-evaluation system that
"values their skill and effectiveness over seniority and tenure." He
also said he wanted to expand alternative school models, such as charter and magnet
schools.
Roy Occhiogrosso,
Mr. Malloy's senior adviser, said Sunday: "We have not seen the ads, but
the governor believes all key education stakeholders, including of course the
CEA, have a right to put their ideas forward in what will unquestionably be a
lively public debate about how best to reform education in Connecticut."
Talks between Connecticut
officials and the union have been cordial so far, in contrast to debates in New Jersey and New
York. New Jersey's largest teachers union, the New
Jersey Education Association, spent more than $6.6 million on advertising last
year, most of it on ads criticizing education budget cuts by Republican Gov.
Chris Christie.
Write to Shelly Banjo at shelly.banjo@wsj.com
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