Professional Educator Certification for Non-Public School Teachers
Main Points
The purpose of the bill was to make it easier for teachers to become certified, however it excludes teachers who teach 69,000 of Connecticut’s students, even if these teachers obtain all the CEU credits required of public school teachers.
Catholic school teachers are required by the three Catholic school offices to obtain over 90 CEUs during a five-year period.
It is unreasonable to disqualify a group of teachers working to obtain this level of certification due to the location of where they teach.
Background
During the June 19, 2009 special session of the Connecticut General Assembly, SB 939, An Act Concerning Educator Certification, included language that eliminated experienced teaching in nonpublic schools as a means of obtaining Professional Educator Certification.
There are three levels of teacher certification –
Initial Educator Certificate
Provisional Educator Certificate
Professional Educator Certificate (A person initially qualifies for this by completing 30 school months of teaching and completed additional course requirements as prescribed by CT certification regulations. This initial certificate is valid for 5 years. With the new bill, in order to maintain this certification, a teacher must obtain 90 CEUs over a five-year period and to initially qualify must obtain 30 credit hours of graduate coursework.
This language did not receive a public hearing and was not included in the bill which was voted out of the Education Committee. However, when the bill was introduced in the Senate, Senate Amendment “A” included this stipulation.
Remarks on the floor of the Senate and House stated that non-public school teachers are not required to have as much continuous education as public school teachers, non-public school teachers do not receive development, and all key stakeholders had input in this bill.
Summary
While it is not mandated by law, Catholic school teachers are required by the three (arch)dioceses to have continuing education and all three offices are certified by the state to provide CEUs. Our teachers are required by the three Catholic school offices to obtain over 90 CEUs during a five year period.
Private and religious schools receive Title II-A funds from NCLB for teacher training. In addition, all of the private and religious schools are coordinating a teacher seminar this spring. This program is being funded by $120,000 from the State of Connecticut under NCLB guidelines and Title II-A funds. The same amount of funds has been allocated for 2010.
Not one person from the non-public school community was contacted or consulted about this provision
The purpose of the bill was to make it easier for teachers to become certified but it excludes teachers who teach 69,000 of Connecticut’s students, even if these teachers obtain all the CEU credits required of public school teachers.
Connecticut Federation of Catholic School Parents Position
This provision will harm the ability of non-public schools to retain and recruit highly qualified teachers and impact the quality of education provided to students. It is unreasonable to disqualify a group of teachers to obtain this level of certification. The provision also discriminates against non-public school teachers, since it exempts them on where they teach, not on any continuing education requirements.
The Connecticut Federation of Catholic School Parents would request the provision - Section 2(C)(3)(g) – be repealed.
