Teachers’ Union Leader, Sharon Palmer, To Be State’s Next Labor Commissioner

Sharon Palmer, a longtime teachers’ union leader, will be nominated by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy as the state’s next labor commissioner, insiders said Tuesday.

Palmer is well known at the state Capitol and is a longtime supporter of Democratic causes. She has worked closely with top union leaders from around the state, including Leo Canty, a Windsor Democrat who recently won a Democratic primary for a seat in the state legislature.

Palmer, 68, is the head of the Connecticut state chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, where Canty has been a longtime leader and activist.

Insiders said Malloy was clearly throwing a bone to the union that had clashed with him over teacher tenure during the past legislative session. After the clash, some of the most controversial aspects of Malloy’s original bill were changed as a result of heavily negotiated compromises. Some aspects of the bill eventually became watered down to include pilot projects and studies - to the point that it passed unanimously in the state House of Representatives. The unanimous vote came after the teachers’ unions had dropped their strong opposition and after the education committee had offered a sharply different version of the bill. Longtime Capitol insiders know that anything that is highly controversial, such as abortion or gun control, never passes unanimously unless the bill is changed and watered down.

The Malloy administration says that the bill, in its final form, still remained as a major step forward in public education.

The final version of the multi-faceted bill includes the creation of a pilot program to help improve literacy for some of the youngest students – in kindergarten to third grade. The final bill, signed by Malloy, also includes another pilot program for a new evaluation system for teachers that would eventually be tied in the 2014 school year to the highly controversial issue of tenure.

The nomination, revealed by insiders, was confirmed by the Malloy administration, and the announcement was made at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The cheering started even before the press conference began.

Palmer’s appointment brought out a huge crowd at the state Capitol complex, including union activists and hard-core Democrats. The crowd included former state legislator Elizabeth Esty, state environmental commissioner Dan Esty, state tax commissioner Kevin B. Sullivan, social services commissioner Roderick Bremby, union activist Rick Melita, education commissioner Stefan Pryor, motor vehicles commissioner Melody Currey, former state Sen. Melodie Peters, Malloy adviser Roy Occhiogrosso, and AFL-CIO activist Lori Pelletier.

“If you know me, you know I’m a coalition builder and a collaborator,” Palmer told the crowd on a summer afternoon in late August.

A former junior high school teacher, Palmer said in an interview that “never in my wildest dreams” did she believe that one day she would be the state labor commissioner.

As Malloy was taking a tour around the state earlier this year touting his education reform bill, the teachers’ unions were pushing back hard on proposed changes to tenure. When asked by a reporter why he picked a union leader who he had previously been banging heads with, Malloy responded, “Oh hell, I bang heads with everybody. Change is hard.”

Longtime union spokesman Larry Dorman, who attended the announcement, was delighted with Palmer’s promotion.

“It’s a terrific choice,” Dorman said. “It’s an inspired choice by the governor. She’s an accomplished advocate and fighter for working people. … This is a great day. A lot of people turned out to show respect for Sharon.”

Pryor, the education commissioner, said, “Sharon Palmer is a problem-solver who, even under the most complex of circumstances, creates opportunities for collaboration and resolution.  I look forward to working closely with Sharon as, together, we support the workforce of today and prepare the workforce of tomorrow.” 

A registered Democrat, Palmer has served in a leadership role at AFT Connecticut dating all the way back to 1987. She initially served as a first vice president and later served for two years as executive vice president. She has held her current post since July 2003.

Previously, Palmer worked as a junior high school teacher – teaching math, science and working in the gifted and talented program in Waterford. While there, she was president and treasurer of the local union, known as Local 2038.

Hartford Courant columnist Kevin Rennie reported Tuesday that Palmer was honored in 2004 at the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party USA at the controversial New Haven People’s Center. The center failed to receive bond money for improvements this year following complaints about the Communist Party.