SB 1199 Summary

• Establishes an educator apprenticeship initiative effective July 1, 2023, enabling students in educator preparation, residency, and alternate route to certification programs to gain classroom teaching experience while working toward full-time certified teacher positions.

• Creates the Aspiring Educators Diversity Scholarship Program providing up to $10,000 annually to diverse students from priority school districts who are enrolled in teacher preparation programs at four-year institutions, with repayment requirements scaled based on post-graduation teaching employment in Connecticut schools.

• Requires each local and regional board of education to develop and implement an "increasing educator diversity plan" (replacing prior "minority educator recruitment plan") with submission deadlines of March 15, 2024, and implementation by July 1, 2024.

• Renames the "Minority Teacher Recruitment Policy Oversight Council" to the "Increasing Educator Diversity Policy Oversight Council" and expands its role to advise on recruitment and retention of diverse educators across multiple pipeline stages.

• Modifies K-8 and high school curriculum requirements to include Native American studies, Asian American and Pacific Islander studies, LGBTQ+ studies, racism, climate change, financial literacy, veteran experiences, civics with digital citizenship, social-emotional learning, cursive writing, and world languages beginning in kindergarten.