The Cambridge Education Association (CEA) believes that supporting students to learn and reach their fullest potential in all areas of their lives should be at the center of everything we do. Furthermore, we will be a member-driven organization dedicated to protecting employee rights, advancing the economic well-being of our members, upholding high professional standards, increasing student academic achievement, and improving the quality of public education as a whole.
The Cambridge Education Association serves a dual role as both a professional association and a labor organization. As a professional association, the CEA will identify, promote, and support best instructional practices in our public schools. The CEA will identify best practices by holding informed and structured conversations with its members. We will put educators at the center of the debate of what constitutes quality public education, equity and achievement. The CEA will promote best instructional practices through educating its members and the community at large. The CEA will support best practices by advancing necessary changes in existing structures through collective bargaining and the legislative process in an effort to make these practices a sustainable part of our school system. Key issues which have already been identified are:
- Closing the achievement gap
- Providing high quality professional development
- Recruiting and hiring highly qualified staff
- Supporting staff in their early years to improve retention
- Ensuring that staff have workloads and schedules that allow time for collaboration on classroom instruction and assessment
- Developing multiple career paths for members
As a labor organization, the CEA will represent, organize, and mobilize all of its members with equal vigor to improve the quality of their economic and professional lives. We will continue to advance and improve the professional lives of our members through the collective bargaining process. At the local level, the CEA will work proactively with administration to resolve conflicts at the school and district level. On state and national issues, the Association will maintain a visible presence in our schools and community in order to educate our members and the community at large regarding their impact on our public schools. Furthermore, the CEA will develop coalitions for the purposes of advancing the interests of our members and public education in general.
