State program helps hire and train new teachers

(WFSB) - A federal grant will help train and hire more teachers who look like the communities they’re working in and the kids they’re educating.

In Connecticut, teachers of color make up just 10-percent of those in the classroom.

But when it comes to students, that number is 45-percent.

That disparity is something the state and its partners are working to eliminate.

Friday in Hamden, Senator Richard Blumenthal and education advocates highlighted a $275,000 grant to help expand Connecticut’s Teacher Residency Program.

Those with the program say it’s all about diversifying teachers and transforming schools.

For 18 months, candidates will take classes working towards their certification, but during that time they’ll spend an entire school year working side by side in the classroom with a mentor teacher, all while getting paid and getting some much-needed experience.

Once they graduate the program and pass the certification requirements, those teachers are then eligible for a full-time teaching position in one of the 27 partner districts taking part.

“They must pass all their certification requirements like any other teacher. They come to us with a Bachelor’s Degree and then we add to that with all their educational courses and the hands on experience and then support them to meet the assessment requirements that are necessary to become certified,” said Marlene Megos with the Connecticut Teacher Residency Program.

Copyright 2022 WFSB. All rights reserved.