Opinion: Make Teacher Certification More Accessible

Naomi Jones is a 6th grade math, science, and health teacher in New Haven Public Schools.

A persistent teacher shortage has left many schools in Connecticut and across the nation in a state of crisis, struggling to find students the quality educators they desperately need. Unfortunately, Connecticut’s outdated teacher certification process has far too many unnecessary barriers to educator certification, stalling any progress that could otherwise be made in getting quality certified teachers in the front of classrooms.

As an educator currently teaching through a Durational Shortage Area Permit (DSAP) program, going to school and teaching full time to earn my certification, I can attest that current avenues for certification in Connecticut — while rewarding — are prohibitive.

Currently, certification requires both traditional undergraduate and master’s degrees in elementary or secondary education, or a return to school for a time-consuming and costly graduate course for someone seeking a career change. These requirements present very few pathways to certification and limited flexibility for those who cannot afford one of these options.

My personal experience speaks to these barriers: after making a career switch from grant writing and nonprofit work to teaching nearly four years ago, I had to find a way to both go to school and continue earning enough income that could only be achieved with a full-time job. As someone with numerous bills and responsibilities, it was clear that my pursuit of a job that desperately needs people like me would, counterintuitively, require some personal sacrifice.

After initially starting work as a substitute teacher, the DSAP program thankfully offers some modest financial relief that is helping me both go to school and work full time. However, the DSAP program is not streamlined, requiring a cumbersome annual re-application process and proof of taking nine credits worth of classes, proof of teaching full-time in a subject area impacted by the teaching shortage, and a recommendation by both the superintendent and principal of my school. The costs of school and exams, along with time spent in the classroom teaching and my own time learning, add up quickly.

Further discouraging, is the lack of consideration of previous classroom experience in the certification process. Despite years of classroom-based volunteer work, tutoring, working as a TA, and even two full years of permanent substitute teaching, my experience was immaterial to becoming certified. This is especially frustrating for paraeducators and other school-based staff who may want to switch to teaching but cannot leverage their classroom experience as part of a streamlined certification process.

Fortunately, there is hope on the horizon for addressing many of these tension points in balancing time, responsibility, money, and experience with a less onerous certification process. Governor Lamont recently signed into law a teacher certification bill that takes necessary steps toward modernizing certification. A new Educator Preparation and Certification Board, which will include educators and be formed by August of this year, will be tasked with designing new regulations as the current ones are sunsetted in 2026.

As the Board comes together and embarks on its work to streamline certification, we must ensure that teachers’ perspectives and experiences, like mine, inform what the board is prioritizing.

This begins with taking a long and hard look at which requirements for certification are necessary, and which requirements exist simply due to the status quo. Connecticut has one of the most outdated certification processes in the nation, and it is preventing us from getting in front of students the quality teachers they deserve.

In listening to educators’ experiences, the Educator Preparation and Certification Board has the chance to help get to one of the root causes of our teaching shortage, paving an easier pathway for deeply passionate educators who seek certification. It’s up to the Board how they will choose to listen and upend the status quo.