Principle Recommendation
Attract teachers who were certified out-of-state through reciprocity. School districts should have the flexibility to hire exceptional teachers without the current regulatory barriers created through time-intensive processes for recertification in Connecticut. If already certified and high-performing in another state, a teacher should be afforded streamlined access to teach in Connecticut public schools. Unlike Connecticut, many states have reciprocity agreements that make it simple for teachers from one state to become licensed in another.
Current Connecticut Statute
Connecticut does not have automatic reciprocity with other states. Instead, it has one-sided reciprocity agreements, permitting Connecticut-certified teachers to work in other states, but not necessarily permitting teachers from those other states to be automatically certified in Connecticut.
This creates two problems for Connecticut’s pool of great teachers. First, it prevents Connecticut from recruiting among the excellent teachers certified in other states. Second, it creates a system that allows other states to recruit Connecticut-certified teachers, but does not give Connecticut anything in return.
Supporting Research
It is difficult to recruit and retain educators in the state’s lowest performing school districts.[i]
- Of CT’s 30 Alliance Districts, the ten lowest performing had a 141% increase in the number of vacant positions from 2012-2014, even though the number of positions only increased by 2%.[ii]
- For the rest of the Alliance Districts, there was no overall increase in positions from 2012 to 2014, but the number of available positions increased by 37%.[iii]
- This shortage of qualified educators will be exacerbated when 27% of all teachers will be eligible for retirement in 2018.[iv]
