The Connecticut General Assembly

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH

April 21, 1994 94-R-0520

TO:

FROM: D'Ann Mazzocca, Principal Analyst

You asked whether the law prohibits a student teacher from serving as a substitute, what the required qualifications are for substitutes, whether PA 93-353 is the only law regulating substitutes' qualifications, and what the requirements are to be a student teacher.

CGS § 10-145(a), as amended by PA 93-353, requires substitute teachers who do not hold valid teaching certificates to hold bachelor's degrees, unless the education commissioner waives the requirement for good cause at the request of a school superintendent. This prohibits a student teacher without a degree from serving as a substitute when the teacher is absent, unless the superintendent requests and receives the requisite waiver. This is the only law governing qualifications of substitutes. Before the enactment of PA 93-353 the degree requirement was in a state regulation (CGS § 10-145d-126).

Student teachers are enrolled in approved teacher preparation programs. Section 10-145f(a) prohibits students from being admitted to such a program unless they have achieved satisfactory scores on all components of the state reading, writing, and mathematics competency examination. There are no other statutory or regulatory requirements to be a student teacher.

DAM:pa