The state's largest teachers' union endorsed Greenwich cable TV entrepreneur Ned Lamont for governor on Tuesday, noting that his days as a volunteer teacher at a Bridgeport high school had brought him insight into the classroom.
The Hartford Courant's longtime education reporter, Grace Merritt, reports:
The board of directors for the Connecticut Education Association, which represents more than 40,000 teachers statewide, unanimously endorsed Lamont, a Greenwich businessman, over opponent Dannel Malloy, a former Stamford mayor.
"He believes teachers have a great deal of insight about education change," John Yrchik, executive director of the CEA said Tuesday. "Also, Ned Lamont's experiences working in an inner-city school in Bridgeport have given him insight into what it will take to close the achievement gap and turn around schools that are struggling."
Lamont was a volunteer teacher at Harding High School in Bridgeport, where he co-taught a class on how small businesses work.
The state's other major teacher's union, the American Federation of Teachers Connecticut, has not yet endorsed a candidate.