The Hartford Public School District had 150 certified teacher openings at the start of the 2023-2024 school year.
Of those openings, approximately 50 are teachers with a dedicated classroom, 33 are special education teachers, 30 are certified teachers who work as coaches, content directors or other central office positions and the remaining 37 are art teachers, music teachers and speech and language pathologists.
With 1,510 teachers across the district, the vacancies represent approximately 10%.
During the month of August, the Hartford Public School District only disclosed the number of teachers with a dedicated classroom.
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“For the start of the school year, we focus on classroom vacancies, how many classrooms in the district require teachers for the opening of schools. So, when you got that lower number, it was the classroom teacher vacancy rate that we focus on at the beginning of the school year,” said Tiffani Curtis, the district’s chief of talent, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
Curtis further explained that the priority is making sure there is a certified teacher in every classroom to provide core instruction.
“Every classroom that has to open with a substitute teacher for students causes a potential transition for them during the school year. We want to minimize the amount of transitions for students. So, we want to fill every single classroom vacancy. So again, we have a laser-like focus on that number. However, we do believe every single position in this district, certified and non-certified, is important to fill,” said Curtis.
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But Carol Gale, the president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers, said when the district only highlights a fraction of the openings, it discredits the other teachers who are essential in providing a well-rounded quality education to students in the capital city.
“That doesn't tell the whole story. We know that children require many more professionals in their schools. We know that they need art teachers and music teachers, we know that they need special educators, they need speech and language, they need TESOL, they need school psychologists, there's just a wide range of positions, social workers, school counselors, those are all the certified positions,” said Gale.
The district also has 96 special ed paraeducator vacancies. The district has a total of 477 para positions with 86.4% filed.
The union president, Shellye Davis, who represents the paraeducators, said,“it's a safety concern. It's an educational concern. And just the fact that our children aren't getting the things that they need to have a good start for education is quite alarming.”
Davis added that with 96 vacancies, it is affecting the students and the existing staff, some of whom make $27,000 a year.
“Kids need to have a good start and if we're starting out with those types of vacancies, that's putting an overwhelming burden on the paraeducators that are here. So instead of only having one student, you might have three or four. Is that really fair to the students who have an IEP that says they have an adult support,” said Davis.
Now seeing the total of 150 certified vacancies, the teacher’s union president said it is eye-opening.
“These needs going into the school year speak to the problems that are happening in our profession,” Gale said.
The district has several programs and hosts recruitment events year-round. The union added that they have expressed a willingness and interest in helping to recruit and brainstorm ways to fill the gap.
