Every student deserves to be taught by a qualified, effective, and passionate educator. Unfortunately, with over 1,000 teacher vacancies across the state, including over 700 in Connecticut's highest-need districts, this is not always the case.
An outdated educator preparation and certification system, along with arbitrary and — quite often — expensive barriers, continue to pose problems to Connecticut's teacher pipeline. These barriers have not only deterred talented people from entering the teaching profession, but have impeded the ability for all students — particularly students of color and higher-need students — to have access to highly effective and diverse educators.
That's why we're working with a broad coalition of education stakeholders, policymakers, and advocates to modernize educator preparation and certification in Connecticut and reduce barriers to the teaching profession.
In 2024, we worked collaboratively to pass historic legislation (Public Act 24-41) that made important, immediate changes to the state's educator preparation and certification system, and established a path for long-term changes that will position Connecticut to better respond to rapidly changing workforce and student needs, and maintain up-to-date rules and regulations. Specifically, Public Act 24-41:
- Expanded pathways into the teaching profession by allowing paraeducators to move into the career of classroom educator;
- Eliminated a certification tier and simplified the process for obtaining;
- Broadened endorsement areas with grade bands; and
- Established the Connecticut Educator Preparation and Certification Board to modernize and align educator preparation and certification regulations and policies to ensure they help attract and retain an effective and diverse educator workforce.
Although the passage of this legislation was a landmark achievement, there is much more to do. That's why we are continuing our work with policymakers and stakeholders to ensure Connecticut's educator preparation and certification system is accessible to all and provides the high-quality, effective teaching force students need and deserve.
