AN ACT CONCERNING EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION.

This bill makes several changes in teacher training, qualifications, and professional development. It establishes new teaching certificates and permits and creates waivers from Connecticut's teacher testing requirements to allow teachers from other states or those whose qualifications do not coincide with Connecticut's existing teacher training requirements to teach in public schools.

The bill (1) adds to the crimes requiring automatic revocation or denial of teaching credentials; (2) requires student teachers to undergo the same criminal background checks as other school personnel; (3) requires school districts to notify the education commissioner when they dismiss a person with a teaching credential for moral turpitude; and (4) bars anyone whose teaching credential is revoked from working in a public school in any capacity while the revocation remains in force.

The bill extends for an additional year, until July 1, 2010, the temporary certification requirements that override dual certification for bilingual education teachers. It gives the education commissioner flexibility to join interstate teacher certification agreements, eliminates his authority to waive a requirement that substitute teachers hold at least a bachelor's degree, and transfers authority to grant extensions of time to complete provisional and professional educator certificate requirements to the commissioner from the State Board of Education (SBE).

1. makes various changes regarding charter schools;

2. requires the attorney general to report to the Education Committee by January 1, 2010 on recommendations arising from his investigation of behavioral analysis services provided to children with autism spectrum disorder;

3. allows boards of education to agree to establish cooperative arrangements to provide special education and health care services;

4. establishes a pilot program to allow students to complete courses at J. M. Wright Technical High School for college credit at Norwalk Community College;

5. requires each interdistrict magnet school operator annually to notify school districts, in writing, of the estimated number of students from those districts who have been placed at the magnet school for the following school year;

6. establishes a five-year pilot program to allow students who live within a half-mile radius of a New Haven charter school to attend the school; and

7. allows the Wells Road Intermediate School in Granby to end its 2009 school year after 178 school days rather than the statutorily required 180 days, due to an outbreak of H1N1 flu.

Finally, the bill eliminates obsolete language and makes technical and conforming changes.

*Senate Amendment “A” makes many changes in provisions of the original bill concerning, among other things, (1) provisional educator certificate qualifications, (2) professional development requirements for professional educator certificate holders, (3) educator appeal rights and employment prohibitions, (4) teacher testing exemptions and waivers, (5) qualifications for adjunct instructor permits, and (6) criminal background checks for student teachers. It adds the sections concerning (1) high school graduation requirements, (2) towns' authority to amend adopted local education budgets, (3) local professional development committees, (4) regionalization of certain school district services, (5) the J. M. Wright-Norwalk Community College pilot program, (6) recycling programs in schools, (7) notification of interdistrict magnet school placements, (8) a pilot program at a New Haven charter school, and (9) the 180-day school year waiver for the Granby school.

*House Amendment “A” deletes provisions of Senate “A” concerning (1) high school graduation requirements, (2) high school graduation credits for adult education courses, and (3) requiring boards of education to develop and implement recycling programs in schools.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2009, except for the sections allowing towns to amend FY 10 education budgets, the Wright Tech-Norwalk Community College pilot program, and the waiver for the Wells Road Intermediate School in Granby, which are effective on passage.

The bill adds to the training required of candidates seeking certification to teach in Connecticut public schools and who enter teacher preparation programs on or after July 1, 2012. Starting on that date, the bill requires teacher candidates to complete training in the professional teaching standards established by the SBE, including at least:

1. development and characteristics of learners,

2. evidence-based and standards-based instruction,

3. evidenced-based classroom and behavior management, and

4. assessment and professional behavior and responsibilities.

These requirements are in addition to existing statutory requirements that teacher candidates must complete (see BACKGROUND). In addition to the statutory training requirements, the law allows SBE to adopt regulations specifying additional training and qualifications for teaching certificates.

The bill broadens the definition of an alternate route to certification program. These programs allow participants to attain teacher certification without completing a regular teacher preparation program.

Under current law, alternate route programs must be (1) provided under a contract with an institution of higher education that the Department of Higher Education (DHE) designates and (2) approved by the SBE. The bill eliminates the contract requirement and expands the types of entities that can offer such programs to include DHE itself, regional education service centers (RESCs), and private teacher or administrator training organizations. As under current law, programs may also be provided by higher education institutions and must be approved by SBE.

The bill also incorporates the term “alternate route to certification program,” eliminating the current reference to “a program of classroom management and instructional methodology. ”

Coursework Requirements. Starting July 1, 2016, the bill requires provisional certificate holders to complete 30 credits hours of graduate coursework, instead of 30 hours of graduate or undergraduate coursework beyond the bachelor's degree, to qualify for a professional certificate. As under current law, the credits must be from a regionally accredited higher education institution.

As of July 1, 2009, the bill eliminates statutory requirements that the coursework consist of (1) a planned program either (a) directly related to the person's grade-level or subject endorsement area or (b) in areas related to the person's ability to provide effective instruction and meet locally determined goals and objectives or (2) an individual program designed to increase student learning that is mutually determined or approved by the teacher and the school board's or private school supervisory agent.

Teaching Experience. By law, a provisional certificate holder must have at from three to eight years of successful teaching experience to gain a professional certificate. Starting July 1, 2012, the bill allows only public school teaching experience to be used to qualify for a professional certificate. But it allows provisional certificate holders to use private school teaching experience to renew a provisional certificate.

The bill also allows a school superintendent's designee, as well as the superintendent, to make the required statements and recommendations concerning teaching competency for a provisional certificate holder applying for a professional certificate and makes other clarifying and conforming changes.

Professional Development Requirements for Professional Educator Certificates

By law, local and regional boards of education must make available to their certified employees at least 18 hours of professional development activities per year and consult with teachers in determining which activities to make available. Starting July 1, 2011, the bill requires boards to fully consider priorities relating to student outcome needs as determined by SBE when establishing professional development activities.

Revoking an Educator Certificate, Permit, or Authorization Based on Criminal Conviction

By law, when a person who holds an SBE-issued certificate, authorization, or permit is convicted of specified crimes, his or her educator credential is considered to be automatically revoked. This bill extends mandatory revocation to those convicted of two additional crimes: (1) criminal attempt to commit a crime (CGS § 53a-49) and (2) enticing a minor under age 16, through an interactive computer service, to engage in prostitution or sexual activity for which the actor may be charged with a crime (CGS § 53a-90a).

The bill bars a person whose teaching credential is revoked from being employed in a public school in any capacity during the revocation period.

The bill clarifies the deadlines for SBE to hold a requested hearing and issue a written decision when an applicant appeals a denial of his or her application for a certificate, permit, or authorization.

By law, the SBE can deny an application for a certificate, authorization, or permit because (1) the application is based on fraud or misrepresents a material fact, (2) the applicant has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude or other crime that might impair the standing of SBE-issued credentials, or (3) other due and sufficient cause. Applicants must receive written notice of the reasons for a denial.

The bill requires a school board or approved private special education facility to report to the education commissioner when it dismisses an employee who holds an SBE credential for moral misconduct under the teacher employment law. That law allows a teacher to be dismissed for (1) inefficiency or incompetence, (2) insubordination against a board of education's reasonable rules, (3) moral misconduct, (4) disability shown by competent medical evidence, (5) elimination of the teacher's position with no other suitable position for the teacher open, or (6) other due and sufficient cause (CGS § 10-151).

Before being admitted to an SBE-approved teacher preparation program or receiving a teaching certificate, teacher candidates must either pass a state reading, writing, and math competency test or qualify for a waiver. Under current law, a candidate receives a waiver from the test if he or she has a combined score of at least 1100 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or an equivalent test designated by SBE. If the SAT or equivalent test was not in English, the candidate must also demonstrate English proficiency on an SBE-designated test. This bill eliminates the statutory requirement that a candidate achieve a specific SAT score and pass an English competency test to qualify for a waiver. Instead, it requires SBE to establish waiver criteria. It also eliminates a requirement that the competency test be conducted at least twice a year.

The bill exempts from the teacher competency test requirement any person who (1) holds a valid school administrator certificate in another state that SBE determines is equivalent to an initial educator certificate in Connecticut, (2) is applying for a certificate in a school administrator endorsement area, and (3) has three years of successful experience as a school administrator in the 10 years before applying for the administrator certificate. The experience may be in a public school or a private school approved by the state board of education in the other state.

The bill allows a person who holds a valid teaching certificate in another state to be awarded a Connecticut certificate without completing Connecticut's teacher testing requirements if he or she meets certain standards and teaches successfully in Connecticut for one year under a temporary certificate.

To be eligible for the temporary certificate, an out-of-state applicant must hold a valid certificate in another state that is (1) at least equivalent, as determined by SBE, to an initial certificate in Connecticut and (2) in the same subject or endorsement area for which the person is seeking Connecticut certification. The applicant must also have either (1) three years in the last 10 of experience teaching the subject for which he or she is seeking Connecticut certification in a public school or state-approved private school in the other state or (2) a Master's or higher degree in that subject.

After one year of employment under the temporary certificate, the bill allows the superintendent of the school district employing the teacher to recommend that SBE waive the required teacher competency and subject matter examinations for the teacher. Although the bill couches the superintendent's recommendation as a request, it requires SBE to agree once it receives a proper application, to grant the teacher a provisional educator certificate.

The bill eliminates two obsolete provisions that no longer apply to holders of temporary nonrenewable certificates.

The bill extends temporary certification requirements for bilingual education teachers for an additional year, until July 1, 2010. The temporary requirements supersede permanent requirements that bilingual education teachers hold dual certification in both bilingual education and either elementary education, if they wish to teach at the elementary level, or a subject area if they wish to teach a subject at the secondary level. These requirements have not been implemented because temporary certification requirements for bilingual education teachers are in place.

Under the temporary certification requirements, instead of the required dual certification, bilingual education teachers must either (1) be certified in bilingual education and pass the SBE-approved elementary education or subject area assessment, as appropriate or (2) be certified in elementary education or the subject they will teach and complete six hours of SBE-approved coursework in English as a second language. Elementary bilingual education certification is valid for grades K-8 and secondary, subject-specific certification is valid for grades 9-12.

Both the temporary and permanent bilingual education certification qualifications require a teacher to demonstrate competence in English and the other language. But under the temporary regulations, bilingual education teachers must demonstrate English competency by passing both an oral English proficiency test and an SBE-approved essential skills test, instead of only by passing the SBE-approved essential skills test.

§ 5 — DENYING ISSUANCE OR REISSUANCE OF EDUCATOR CREDENTIAL BASED ON A CRIMINAL CONVICTION

SBE is barred from issuing or re-issuing a certificate, permit, or authorization to anyone who has been convicted of any of certain crimes, unless he or she completed the sentence for the crime more than five years before applying for the credential. This bill extends this prohibition to those convicted of two additional crimes: (1) criminal attempt to commit a crime (CGS § 53a-49) and (2) enticing a minor under age 16, through an interactive computer service, to engage in prostitution or sexual activity for which the actor may be charged with a crime (CGS § 53a-90a).

The bill transfers authority from the SBE to the education commissioner for approving time extensions for provisional or professional certificate holders to meet the requirements for obtaining or maintaining a professional certificate. By law, a provisional certificate holder who is unable to meet the requirements for a professional certificate within the required time (eight years) or a professional certificate holder who cannot meet the requirements for maintaining his or her certificate within the required time (five years) may apply for an extension. The SBE, under current law, or the commissioner, under the bill, may approve a single extension for good cause (1) if the person has a hardship or (2) because of an emergency shortage of certified teachers in the district where the person is employed. Extensions can be granted only to teachers with satisfactory teaching records.

The bill limits the duration of an extension to 24 months from the date the provisional or professional certificate expired. Under current law, SBE can approve an extension for any amount of time it considers reasonable. As under current law, a teacher can receive only one extension.

The bill repeals the statutory Interstate Agreement on Qualification of Educational Personnel adopted in 1969. The agreement authorizes the education commissioner to enter into renewable contracts lasting up to five years with other states having comparable educator certification criteria to allow Connecticut to accept the qualifications of educators from other states to teach here. It requires parties to facilitate and strengthen cooperation in interstate educator certification and establishes a contract committee of officials from the party states to monitor the contracts.

The bill instead allows the education commissioner or the commissioner's designee to establish or join interstate agreements to foster certification of qualified candidates from other states. It requires any such out-of-state candidates to hold a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university, meet Connecticut's assessment requirements, and meet any conditions required by the interstate agreement. These requirements conform to current practice.

Starting July 1, 2010, the bill requires student teachers working in public schools to undergo the same criminal background checks already required for school employees and certain other people working in public schools. By law, in addition to school board employees, people placed in public schools under public assistance employment programs and supplemental service providers under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) must submit to state and national criminal history records checks within 30 days after starting work, if their work involves direct student contact.

Also starting July 1, 2010, the bill requires a local or regional board of education to notify SBE if it receives notice that a student teacher has been convicted of a crime. Under current law, the requirement for boards to notify SBE covers people who hold SBE-issued certificates, permits, or authorizations or who are employed by an NCLB supplemental services provider. (The NCLB requires the SDE to approve providers of federally required supplemental services, such as tutoring, for low-income children attending schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress in student achievement as required by the federal law. )

§ 10 — EXCELLENT SCORE EXEMPTION FROM SUBJECT AREA CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Starting July 1, 2010, the bill requires SBE to allow a person seeking certification to teach in a subject shortage area to substitute an “excellent” score on the appropriate subject area test for regular subject area certification requirements (i. e. , coursework requirements and a college major in the subject or a closely related one). The SBE must establish the excellent score. The waiver applies to applicants for teaching certificates, and to those holding certificates who seek an endorsement, in a shortage subject.

§ 11 — ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR PERMIT FOR ARTISTS TEACHING IN CERTAIN INTERDISTRICT MAGNET SCHOOLS

The bill establishes a three-year, renewable adjunct instructor permit allowing a person with specialized training, experience, or expertise in the arts to teach in certain interdistrict arts magnet high schools for up to 15 classroom instructional hours per week. The permit allows holders to work at (1) any part-time arts magnet high school in existence on July 1, 2009 and (2) the Cooperative Arts and Humanities Magnet High School (an arts magnet school in New Haven).

The bill allows SBE to issue the permit to qualifying applicants at the request of a local or regional board of education or regional education service center (RESC). SBE must renew the permit every three years, also at the request of the board or RESC. The permit authorizes a holder to teach art, dance, music, theater, or any other subject related to his or her artistic specialty. To qualify for a permit, an applicant must:

1. hold at least a bachelor's degree from a higher education institution accredited by the Board of Governors of Higher Education or a regional accreditation agency;

2. have a minimum of either (a) three years' work experience in the arts or (b) one year's work experience and two years of specialized schooling in the artistic specialty; and

3. have either (a) at least 180 hours of cumulative experience working with children in a public or private setting or (b) at least two years experience as a full-time faculty member at a higher education institution. The 180 hours of experience can include working in after-school programs, group lessons, children's theater, dance studio lessons, and artist-in-residence programs.

The bill also requires SBE to issue a permit without further qualification to anyone who, before July 1, 2009, was employed as a teacher of art, music, dance, theater, or any other subject related to his or her artistic specialty for at least one year at a part-time interdistrict arts magnet high school or the Cooperative Arts and Humanities Magnet High School.

While employed at such a school, the bill requires the permit holder to be supervised by the school superintendent or a school principal, administrator, or other supervisor the superintendent designates. The supervisor must regularly observe, guide, and evaluate the permit holder's performance. The board of education or RESC that employs the instructor must provide a program to assist the instructor that includes academic and classroom support. The board or RESC must develop the program in consultation with SDE.

The bill bars an adjunct instructor from displacing a certified teacher who is already employed at a covered magnet school. It prohibits an adjunct instructor from being a member of the Teachers' Retirement System based solely on the fact that he or she holds an adjunct instructor permit.

The bill requires the attorney general, in consultation with the education and higher education commissioners, to report to the Education Committee by January 1, 2010 on any investigation performed in Connecticut regarding behavior analysis services for children with autism spectrum disorder. The report must include findings based on the investigation and recommend statutory changes and an appropriate in-state certifying entity for behavioral analysis services.

The bill establishes a one-year resident teacher certificate allowing a person to teach in Connecticut while enrolled in an alternate route to certification program. It allows the education commissioner, for good cause, to extend the certificate for an additional year at the request of the superintendent of schools of the district that employs the certificate holder.

Under the bill, once the SBE receives a proper application, it must issue a resident teacher certificate in elementary or middle grades education, secondary academic subjects, special subjects or fields, special education, early childhood education, and administration and supervision. To qualify for a certificate, an applicant must:

1. hold at least a bachelor's degree from a higher education institution accredited by the Board of Governors of Higher Education or a regional accreditation agency,

2. have an undergraduate grade point average of at least 3. 0,

3. achieve a qualifying score set by the SBE on the appropriate SBE-approved subject area test, and

4. be enrolled in an alternate route to certification program that is approved by SBE and meets “guidelines” established under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. (Federal NCLB requirements for alternate route to certification programs are established in federal regulations, not guidelines. )

Under the bill, a resident teacher certificate holder must be the “teacher of record” (a term that the bill does not define) under the supervision of the school superintendent or a school principal, administrator, or other supervisor the superintendent designates. The supervisor must regularly observe, guide, and evaluate the certificate holder's performance.

Under current law, to qualify for an initial teacher certificate, an applicant must (1) (a) graduate from an SBE-approved four-year baccalaureate teacher preparation program, (b) graduate from another accredited four-year baccalaureate program and take SBE-required equivalent teacher training courses, or (c) complete an approved alternate route to certification program and teach successfully under a 90-day temporary certificate and (2) complete an SBE-defined subject area major.

The bill also requires SBE to issue an initial educator certificate to anyone who:

1. successfully completes the alternate route to certification program described above,

2. taught successfully as the teacher of record under a resident teacher certificate, and

3. successfully completes the regular teacher competency and subject matter testing requirements for certification.

§ 14 — NATIONAL TEACHER CORPS GRADUATES WORKING UNDER DURATIONAL SHORTAGE AREA PERMITS

As of July 1, 2011, the bill sunsets a program allowing qualified graduates of a national teacher corps training program (such as Teach for America) to work under special durational shortage area permits (DSAPs) issued by SBE in certain school districts.

Under current law, the special DSAPs for teacher corps graduates allow them to work at the elementary or secondary level in public and charter schools in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven. Until June 30, 2011, the bill also allows them to work in state charter schools in Stamford. Under both current law and the bill, when issuing the special DSAPs, the SBE must first meet the needs of schools run by those districts' boards of education and second, those of charter schools in those districts.

A DSAP is a temporary public school teaching credential issued by the SBE at the request of a local board of education. It allows an uncertified person to teach in a particular position for which no suitable certified teacher is available. The special DSAPs are valid for one year and can be renewed once.

The bill eliminates the education commissioner's authority to grant waivers from the requirement that substitute teachers have at least a bachelor's degree. Under current law, the commissioner can grant a waiver for good cause at the request of a school superintendent.

By law, each board of education must develop a comprehensive professional development plan, with the advice and assistance of its teachers and administrators, including their unions, and whatever other resources the board considers appropriate. This bill requires each board to establish a professional development committee to, among other things, develop, evaluate, and annually update the professional development plan. As under current law, each district's professional development committee must consist of the board's certified employees, including their union representatives, and other school personnel the board consider appropriate.

Under current law, district professional development plans must (1) be directly related to the board of education's educational goals and (2) relate to regular and special student needs. The bill also requires that, starting July 1, 2011, the plans be developed with full consideration of priorities relating to student outcome needs as determined by SBE.

The bill allows certain towns to amend adopted local budgets for FY 10 to reduce their education appropriations by up to the amount of funding their local or regional boards of education will receive directly from the federal State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) program according to the 2009 federal stimulus act (P. L. 111-5, the American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA)). It applies to any town whose fiscal authority failed to account for boards' direct receipt of SFSF funds when passing its municipal budget before June 30, 2009.

The bill overrides any statute, charter, or home rule or other ordinances to allow the following municipal bodies to make such a reduction: the board of finance, for municipalities that have such boards; the board of selectmen in a town with no board of finance; or any other local authority that makes appropriations for the school district.

This bill allows boards of education to agree to establish cooperative arrangements to provide special education and health care services. They can already establish these arrangements to provide school accommodation services, programs, or activities. Additionally, the bill allows charter schools to enter into cooperative arrangements to the same extent as boards of education, if the education commissioner approves. The bill specifies that any charter school participating in cooperative arrangements maintains its status as a state charter school and must meet the obligations of the charter school laws.

The bill allows SDE to give special consideration to grant applications indicating the use of RESC services or joint purchasing agreements among boards to purchase special education and health care services. SDE can already do this with regard to purchasing supplies, testing materials, and food or food services.

§ 23 — PILOT PROGRAM FOR WRIGHT TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL AND NORWALK COMMUNITY COLLEGE

By September 1, 2009, this bill requires the Board of Trustees of the Community-Technical Colleges to appoint an oversight board and, by January 1, 2010, requires the oversight board to establish a pilot program to allow students to complete courses at J. M. Wright Technical High School for college credit at Norwalk Community College. The program must coordinate courses between Wright Tech and Norwalk Community College and provide students with access to vocational employment or post-secondary education.

The Norwalk Community College president must be the oversight board's chairperson and its members must include one each representing the J. M. Wright and Norwalk Community College faculties, one representing a chamber of commerce, and four representing trade vocations.

The oversight board must establish the pilot program in consultation with the community-technical colleges' board of trustees and within existing budgetary resources. The program must begin during the school year starting July 1, 2010 and operate in each school year thereafter.

Starting by June 30, 2011, the community-technical college board of trustees and the education commissioner must report annually to the Education and Higher Education and Employment Advancement committees on the pilot program's curriculum and the number of students who have earned course credit under the program.

Starting by May 15, 2010, the bill requires each interdistrict magnet school operator annually to notify school districts, in writing, of the estimated number of students from those districts who have been placed at the magnet school for the following school year. The notice must also include the student's grade, the magnet school name, and the tuition to be charged the district. The bill specifies that the number of students given in the notice is an estimate and that it does not limit the number of student who may enroll in interdistrict magnet schools for the year.

The bill waives statutory charter school attendance requirements to establish a five-year pilot program to require students who live within a half-mile radius of a K-8 charter school to be operated in the former Timothy Dwight School building in New Haven to attend the school. By law, when a charter school has more applicants than spaces available after reserving spaces for siblings of students currently attending the school, the available places must be filled by lottery. The pilot program must run from July 1, 2011, which is the date the charter school at Dwight School is projected to open, to June 30, 2015.

The bill waives the statutory requirement that public schools remain open for at least 180 days of actual school sessions each year to allow the Wells Road Intermediate School in Granby, because of an outbreak of H1N1 flu virus at the school, to close its 2008-09 school year on June 26, 2009 after 178 days of actual school sessions. The bill also requires the school's last six school days, starting June 19 and ending June 26, 2009, to be full-day sessions.

According to the Granby school superintendent's office, a full day at the Wells Road Intermediate School is six hours and 45 minutes and runs from 8: 20 a. m. to 3: 05 p. m.

To conform to the elimination of the interstate agreement (see § 7 above), the bill eliminates laws designating the education commissioner as the state's agent for concluding contracts under the agreement and requirements that (1) the commissioner keep contracts concluded under it on file in the commissioner's and the secretary of the state's office and (2) the SBE publish the contracts in a convenient form.

It also repeals an obsolete law allowing anyone employed by a local or regional board of education before July 1, 1977 as an occupational instructor and who held an occupational certificate as of that date to be granted a standard certificate. Occupational and standard certificates are obsolete and are no longer issued.

Connecticut expects to receive $ 541 million over two years from the SFSF. Both the governor's and the Appropriations Committee's proposed budgets use the SFSF money in FY 10 and FY 11 to maintain ECS grants at FY 09 levels during those years. However, U. S. Education Department guidelines require states to distribute SFSF funds for education directly to local and regional boards of education and not to treat them as state revenue. ECS grants are sent to towns, not to boards of education. Since the SFSF funds make up about 14% of the amounts needed to fund ECS grants at FY 09 levels in the next two years, ECS grants sent to towns will likely be 14% lower than the FY 09 amounts, although the combination of ECS grants and SFSF funds will equal FY 09 ECS grants.