With the new school year around the corner, Connecticut again faces a teacher shortage in grades K-12 and across teaching specialties. A July report from the state’s Department of Education outlines 11 different areas of certification where the number of currently employed teachers doesn’t meet the demand school districts are facing.
Nearly half of the shortage areas identified by the education department are across the entire state and across all grades. Those areas of certification are bilingual education, special education, school psychology, technology education and teaching English to speakers of other languages.
Two of the shortage areas apply specifically to ‘high-needs districts,’ which, according to the department, are determined by whether or not the school district is a previously determined low-performing district or if the percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch within the district reaches a certain cutoff. The shortage areas for these districts are library and media specialists and speech and language pathologists.
The department highlighted four teaching areas that were deemed particularly urgent for filling staff: mathematics and science for grades 4-12, and bilingual and special education for all grades.
The report also offered specific benefits for educators teaching in-demand subjects, including mortgage assistance programs, the rehiring of retired teachers without implementing the statutory earnings limit, and student loan cancellations.
