Aspiring Teachers Get $2M Boost

Gov. Ned Lamont came to Southern Connecticut State University Thursday to announce that his administration has set aside $2 million in grants to help aspiring teachers a fighting chance at financially making it through school. 

Lamont unveiled a statewide ​“Educator Preparation Program” which includes $500,000 set aside for teachers of color and those who are student teaching in urban areas.

The $2 million will cover tests (such as the Praxis exam) that teaching students are required to take before they graduate. These tests have fees ranging from $800 – 1,500 depending on the students’ major. If students fail one of these tests, they must pay the fee again to retake it. Many students graduate in debt. 

New Haven Schools Superintendent Iline Tracy said at the press conference that she would like to see the end of these tests: ​“The test does not make the teacher. Let’s get rid of the test and let our people prosper.”

SCSU Vice President of Academic Affairs Robert Prezant and College of Education Dean Stephen Hegedus noted that Southern first opened its doors as a teaching college, and educating future educators remains central to the mission. According to Prezant, SCSU produces the largest number of teachers, principals, and educators in the state. More recently, SCSU and New Haven Public Schools worked together on the opening of pre-K‑4 Barack H. Obama magnet school in 2020, with a mission of inspiring some students to eventually enter the teacher pipeline.

State Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker emphasized the need for a diverse teaching population; school systems like New Haven have struggled to find teachers of color.

Russell-Tucker said this new program should help by helping prospective teachers to payf or the exams: ​“We don’t want to lose these students once they’re in the program.”

The grant program is being launched during a national teacher shortage. State Rep. Robert Sanchez of New Britain, co-chair of the legislature’s Education Committee, noted male teachers and teachers of color are in particularly short supply. He taught preschool for 20 years and loved it but had to give it up because he was not paid enough to financially support his family, he said. ​“It’s really sad.”

Some students in SCSU’s current education program cohort already work in schools but are not yet certified teachers. One of them is Daylan Greer, a second-grade substitute teacher at Celentano Magnet School. He was recommended to the SCSU program by his principal, he said. ​“This education is cutting-edge.” Greer said that the grant will help him and his colleagues pay their way through the program. 

Speakers at the press conference repeatedly argued that Connecticut produces the best teachers in the country. Lamont said that people need to stop telling teachers how to teach and what not to say. ​“Let our teachers teach,” he declared. Three times.