Connecticut will invest $3 million to address the teacher and paraeducator vacancies plaguing the state, Gov. Ned Lamont, the Connecticut State Department of Education and the Department of Labor announced Tuesday.

“While we have made some gains recently in teacher hiring, there remains a shortage in many school districts, and it is critically important that we maintain the talent pipeline necessary to address these challenges,” Lamont said. “The most important education reform is a great teacher in the classroom, and our administration remains committed to fully funding our education system.”

According to the state Department of Education, districts reported vacancies in about 1,300 teaching and 1,300 paraeducator positions.

The funding, sourced from federal COVID-relief dollars, will support the launch of a Registered Apprenticeship Program to pay student teachers, implement “grow-your-own” programs that draw high school students into the teaching profession, and recruit new paraeducators by organizing job fairs, expanding test site locations and subsidizing exam and test-prep costs.

“This investment will expand programs that we know are working to bring educators into classrooms, such as Educators Rising and NexGen Educators,” CSDE Commissioner Russell-Tucker said. “These initiatives, coupled with new investments to initiate registered apprenticeship programs, will enable us to continue a forward momentum while developing a diverse workforce.”

The vast majority of aspiring educators in Connecticut pay thousands of dollars in tuition while completing unpaid student teaching requirements. The Registered Apprenticeship Program would require school districts to hire and pay student teachers as employees.

“Rather than train and pray, which is what you often have to do, now we’re going to support you by paying you while you’re training,” Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo said. “You’re an employee from day one. So the loyalty is built in, and the mentorship only solidifies that loyalty.”

Waterbury and New Britain have agreed to pilot the program before it expands to other districts.

What pay the apprentices will receive is not yet known. Bartolomeo explained that registered apprenticeship programs must follow a federal template that includes staggered increases in pay once participants hit certain calendar milestones. CSDE Chief Talent Officer Shauna Tucker said apprenticeship wages for the pilot launch are still under negotiations in Waterbury and New Britain.

Marlene Megos, director of the Connecticut Teacher Residency Program, said they require districts to pay apprentices $28,000 during their first year. The second year of the program, Megos explained that participants become a “teacher of record” and earn the equivalent of a first-year teacher salary in their district.

The CTRP started in 2019 and has more than 20 districts participating in its program. Megos said New Britain will be the next to join through the Registered Apprenticeship Program. Waterbury’s apprentices will follow the NextGen Educators model, which launched in 2020.

“These new teachers, budding teachers, are committed to the communities from which they came. They want to return there. They want to continue their education, and they want to become a part of the fabric of those schools,” said Paula Talty, interim associate dean of the School of Education and Professional Studies of Central Connecticut State University, which runs NextGen Educators. “This apprenticeship program will enable these students not only to complete their education in the districts that they are committed to, but also earn while they learn.”

DOL and CSDE leaders said the Registered Apprenticeship Program will become fully functional this summer going into the fall school year. Their hope is to bring on new districts within the first six months of the Waterbury and New Britain pilot run.

In addition to apprenticeships, the CSDE said it will provide a seed investment to 18 school districts that want to create Educators Rising programs within their high schools. The program, which currently operates in 15 districts, guides students towards undergraduate teaching programs or paraprofessional certifications with the hope that alumni return and teach in their home districts.

Isaias Rodriguez Sanchez, a sophomore from New Britain, said that thanks to Educators Rising, he already teaches lessons at a preschool located within his high school and is building valuable skills for the classroom and beyond.

“If we want to really cultivate our teachers and make sure that we have quality teachers and diversified teachers in the future, Educators Rising is the answer,” Rodriguez Sanchez said. “It’s amazing to see that there’s so many people who share the interest and passion for teaching, and I feel so supported, and it’s changed my life because I feel a sense of belonging. … I know that these people will be my colleagues in the future.”