With one month left in Connecticut’s legislative session, educators want lawmakers to implement some improvements.
Teachers statewide will come together for a Lobby Day event April 8, calling for legislation to improve the state’s public education funding formula and to pay student teachers.
Kate Dias, president of the Connecticut Education Association, said the funding formula has already led to fewer teachers in the classroom.
"You’re going to have fewer elementary school teachers, fewer options for your students in high school," Dias contended. "There are all very real outcomes when we talk about reducing funding in the public schools, and we’re seeing it in almost every community across Connecticut."
She pointed out one problem with the state's current Education Cost Sharing formula is the foundational amount has not been updated since 2013. Because the state is not fully funding education, communities are forced to rely on property tax funding to make up for missing dollars. Some have not been able to do it, which leads to larger class sizes and lower wages for school staff and makes it harder to recruit new educators.
The need to pay student teachers in Connecticut has reached a fever pitch. Surveys show 80% of student teachers feel exploited because they are working without pay to gain teaching experience. Some also cited high stress levels from 12-hour weekdays, hours of homework and their own course loads. class.
Dias argued going unpaid makes it hard to attract more teachers to the profession.
"We’ve had students who want to be teachers but can’t afford to not work," Dias noted. "Then they have to think about leaving their student teaching or their teachers' program because they can’t afford not only to not work for a semester, but they’re effectively working full time, and they don’t have resources."
Connecticut saw a 15% decline in its educator preparation program between 2020 and 2024. Some states used COVID dollars to pay student teachers, and 10 states have laws on the books requiring "teachers in training" be paid.
Source: Public News Service
