Lawmakers Review Teacher Certification Overhaul

The legislature’s Education Committee held a public hearing March 15 reviewing numerous bills, including a number impacting workforce development policy.

CBIA affiliate ReadyCT strongly supported HB 6879, which creates a commission to review and make recommendations concerning educator preparation programs and certification.

“It has been over two decades since Connecticut’s educator certification and preparation
requirements have been comprehensively reworked,” ReadyCT executive director Shannon Marimón told the committee.

“This means that candidates who want to become part of the educator workforce in Connecticut—a dire need for the state given current educator shortages—are operating under rules and regulations that have not been updated since before they were born.”

Marimón said ensuring an equitable and effective teacher workforce was the basis for maintaining a high quality workforce in every other sector of the economy.

“Students become the next generation of workforce, however, there is a significant teacher shortage and a complex and expensive process for becoming certified,” she said.

“This precludes some of the best fits and second act individuals from entering the profession and passing on institutional knowledge.”  

Work-Based Learning

The committee also heard testimony for SB 1197, a wide-ranging measure that includes a provision allowing boards of education to provide aerospace and aviation training to students through partnerships with local businesses.

The bill also allows the establishment of dual enrollment or early college programs, as part of a focus on ensuring work-based learning opportunities in high-demand industries, including advanced manufacturing, aerospace, and healthcare.

CBIA’s Ashley Zane told the committee that pre-apprenticeship programs provide students the opportunity to determine their interests lie and whether a career path is right for them prior to investing time and financial resources.  

The bill also includes a feasibility study to create an aerospace advanced manufacturing high school. 

Aerospace and transportation equipment make up the largest percentage of the state’s manufacturing sector at 37%, with thousands of open positions and a growing need for qualified workers.

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For more information, contact CBIA’s Ashley Zane (860.244.1169) | @AshleyZane9.