State lawmakers on Thursday launched a pair of proposals aimed at making it easier to become a teacher, studying the impact of unfunded education mandates on towns and changing reporter requirements mandated by the state's child welfare system. passed a sweeping bill.
The measure (House Bills 5436 and 5437) would require states to produce periodic reports on “orphaned youth,” and would, among other things, add a semi-autonomous commission responsible for handling educational qualifications. The mission of the Board of Education will change. Rep. Jeff Currie (D-East Hartford), co-chairman of the school board, said the new organization will work in conjunction with the school board.
Curry said the bill combines ideas from several bills the school board discussed this session.
Curry said the move is part of a plan to make the State Board of Education more of an advisory board than a governing body.
“Part of the reason for that is … we're working with a semi-autonomous group to do this certification, and that group is made up of subject matter experts, not the State Board of Education.” said Curry.
House Minority Leader Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-North Branford) said earlier in the day that he didn't expect much backlash to the measure, and that turned out to be the case. He also said he was pleased that the State Board of Education has begun to change course because of the school board's actions related to the Killingly School District last year, when the state announced that held a series of public hearings regarding the deficiencies. district. He called the state's actions excessive.
Connecticut law allows the State Board of Education to intervene when local school districts fail to comply with the state's educational interests.
“While there are certainly issues at Killingly, it's not the school board's role to set some kind of policy, so I'm still concerned now that that decision has been made, but I'm still concerned that a school district that doesn't have a school health center What does that lead to?'' Candelora said, referring to the school-based mental health services at the center of Killingly's charges. “So they're just going to just say, 'We need to have it in every district'?”
Lawmakers are also considering making it easier for teachers to earn certifications this session, as local governments face labor shortages in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
HB 5436 would streamline the state's three-tier teacher certification system by eliminating one of the tiers. It will also make it easier for professionals with at least five years' experience to teach certain courses, and give primary school authorities more flexibility over which grades educators teach.
“There are a lot of barriers to teacher certification,” said Rep. Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford, the ranking member of the education community.
The bill would also change reporting requirements for teachers. Lawmakers say many teachers are calling the state Department of Children and Families to file reports not because they believe children are being abused or neglected, but because they are calling their jobs even if they are unsure. It is said that this is because they are afraid of losing.
Curry said about 40% of calls to DCF's care line are from educators, and only a small number of those reports are substantiated. The bill would add “in good faith” language to the reporting requirement, requiring teachers to report to DCF only if they believe there is abuse or neglect.
You can also ask questions before calling DCF. For example, if a child comes to school with a bruised knee, the teacher can ask what happened. If a child says they fell off a bike and the teacher believes them, there is no need to report it.
“They're calling for a lot of unnecessary reasons, simply because they're very afraid of losing their jobs,” Curry said Thursday.
It is common in many states for most child welfare reports to be provided by schools, in part because educators spend a lot of time with children on a regular basis, and there are changes in behavior and Because there is an opportunity to become aware of an injury or an unmet need. The majority of calls to child welfare hotlines are related to neglect.
Curry said lawmakers worked with DCF and the Office of Child Advocates on the change. He said this would reduce pressure on both educators and families.
HB 5436 passed unanimously.
Lawmakers passed another education bill, HB 5437, with 129 votes in favor, 20 votes against, and 2 no votes. This bill primarily focuses on reducing unfunded mandates for orphaned youth and school districts.
An advisory council for reviewing educational obligations will be established. The group will report annually to the school board on the cost and implementation of education mandates for school districts. Over the past year, a working group has been reviewing existing unfunded mandates, he added.
He said the bill would provide more flexibility in professional development so educators can get the training that is most beneficial to them.
Curry said the goal is to help Congress become more aware of underfunded missions and inform future legislation.
Candelora said his biggest concern with the bill is that it does not address the state's mandate for schools to move to a new way of teaching children to read, called the Reading Rights Program.
During the 2023 legislative session, lawmakers passed the Right to Read Act. This bill would require all school districts in Connecticut to move to a reading program that aligns with the science of reading. A series of studies show that the best way to teach reading is through five pillars. Skill development: phonemic awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
More than 80 school districts have applied for exemption from the program.
The bill also requires further reporting of data on “orphaned youth.” This means high school graduates who are neither employed nor enrolled in higher education, employed high school non-graduates, young people without a high school diploma or employment, and prisoners between the ages of 14 and 26.
This requirement follows a report from the Grant Foundation Dario Education. The report found that in 2021-2022, more than 119,000 young people in Connecticut between the ages of 14 and 26, or approximately 19%, will be considered “at-risk” or “disconnected.” ”.
Republicans argued that it is counterintuitive to require more reporting in a bill that aims to reduce obligations.
The bill would also change out-of-school suspension rules for some of the state's youngest students, those in preschool through second grade. Children that age can only be suspended if they cause physical harm, and out-of-school suspensions cannot exceed five days.
Current law allows for suspensions of up to 10 days.
If passed, this bill would also change some graduation requirements. To meet this requirement, high school students would be allowed to volunteer with partisan political organizations.
Curry said this “opens the door for students to be as socially engaged as possible.”
Both bills will next be introduced in the Senate.
Jessika Harkay contributed reporting.