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sSB221 / File No. 341 1
General Assembly File No. 341
February Session, 2026 Substitute Senate Bill No. 221
Senate, April 2, 2026
The Committee on Education reported through SEN.
MCCRORY, D. of the 2nd Dist., Chairperson of the Committee
on the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.
AN ACT CONCERNING ASPIRING EDUCATORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10 -156ii of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2026): 2
(a) There is established an aspiring educators [diversity] scholarship 3
program administered by the Department of Education. The program 4
shall provide an annual scholarship to [diverse students ] aspiring 5
educators who (1) graduated from a public high school in [an alliance 6
district, as defined in section 10 -262u] this state, and (2) are enrolled in 7
a teacher preparation program at any four -year institution of higher 8
education. [A diverse student ] An aspiring educator may receive an 9
annual scholarship in an amount up to ten thousand dollars for each 10
year such [diverse student] aspiring educator is enrolled and in good 11
standing in a teacher preparation program. As used in this section, 12
["diverse" has the same meaning as provided in section 10 -156bb] 13
"aspiring educator" means an individual who is in a population 14
subgroup that is underrepresented in the teaching profession in this 15
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state and for which such population subgroup has been identified as a 16
teacher shortage area by the Commissioner of Education pursuant to 17
section 10-8b, as amended by this act. 18
(b) Not later than January 1, [2023] 2027, the department shall, in 19
consultation with the chairpersons of the joint standing committee of the 20
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, 21
develop a policy concerning the administration of the scholarship. Such 22
policy shall include, but need not be limited to, provisions regarding (1) 23
any additional eligibility criteria, (2) payment and distribution of the 24
scholarships to [diverse students ] aspiring educators through the 25
teacher preparation programs in which they are enrolled, and (3) the 26
notification of students in high school [in alliance districts ] of the 27
scholarship program, including the opportunity to apply for a 28
scholarship under the program while enrolled in high school and prior 29
to graduation if such student will be enrolled in a teacher preparation 30
program during the following fall semester at a four -year institution of 31
higher education. 32
(c) For the fiscal years ending June 30, [2024] 2027, and each fiscal year 33
thereafter, the department shall annually award scholarships in 34
accordance with the provisions of this section and the guidelines 35
developed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. 36
(d) The Commissioner of Education shall develop scholarship 37
repayment criteria for recipients who are not employed as a certified 38
teacher by a local or regional board of education in [the] this state 39
following graduation from a teacher preparation program. Any 40
amounts repaid to the department shall be deposited in the General 41
Fund. 42
(e) On or before March first of each year, the commissioner shall 43
determine if there are any unexpended funds appropriated for purposes 44
of this section for the fiscal year. If the commissioner determines that 45
there are unexpended funds, the commissioner may expend up to two 46
hundred fifty thousand dollars of such unexpended funds for the 47
purpose of implementing the plan to promote the teaching profession 48
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developed pursuant to section 10-155m. 49
[(e)] (f) The department may accept gifts, grants and donations, from 50
any source, public or private, for the aspiring educators [diversity] 51
scholarship program. 52
[(f)] (g) Not later than January 1, [2024] 2028, and annually thereafter, 53
the department shall develop a report that includes annual data on the 54
[race and ethnicity of the diverse ] population subgroups of students 55
who receive a scholarship under the program and the teacher 56
preparation program in which they are enrolled. The department shall 57
submit such report to the joint standing committee of the General 58
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, in 59
accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a. 60
Sec. 2. Section 10 -8b of the general statutes is repealed and the 61
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2026): 62
(a) The Commissioner of Education shall annually, by December first, 63
[determine subject and geographic ] identify the following areas in 64
which a teacher shortage exists: [and] (1) Subject, (2) geographic, and (3) 65
population subgroups that are underrepresented in the teaching 66
profession in this state. The commissioner shall certify such [shortages] 67
teacher shortage areas to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority 68
for purposes of section 8 -265pp. In [determining] identifying such 69
teacher [shortages] shortage areas, the commissioner shall consider the 70
following: [(1)] (A) The number of teacher vacancies in a particular 71
subject area or geographic area; [(2)] (B) the number of new certificates 72
in such subject areas and geographic areas or population subgroups 73
issued by the Department of Education during the preceding year; [and 74
(3)] (C) the number and types of classes being taught by persons whose 75
training is not specific to the field in which they are teaching ; and (D) 76
those population subgroups that are underrepresented in the teaching 77
profession in this state using data collected in the state -wide public 78
school information system pursuant to section 10-10a. 79
(b) The Department of Education shall annually, by March first, 80
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electronically distribute to the president of every institution of higher 81
education in this state offering a teacher preparatory program 82
information concerning teacher shortage areas, [determined] identified 83
pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, for at least the prior five years. 84
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2026 10-156ii
Sec. 2 July 1, 2026 10-8b
ED Joint Favorable Subst.
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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Connecticut Housing Finance
Authority (CHFA)
CHFA -
Cost/Potential
Revenue Impact
Minimal Minimal
Education, Dept. GF - Cost See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund; CHFA=Resources of CHFA
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill makes various changes to the Aspiring Educators
Scholarship Program, which result in the fiscal impacts described below.
Section 1 expands eligibility for the Aspiring Educators Scholarship
Program to students who graduated from any Connecticut public high
school, rather than in Alliance Districts only, and are underrepresented
in the teaching profession . This results in a cost annually to the State
Department of Education ( SDE) beginning in FY 2 7. Costs will vary
based on the number of additional award recipients due to the bill, and
the amount of grants they receive. 1 In FY 2 6, $ 6 million was
appropriated for the program and $992,000 is anticipated to be spent.
Additionally, Section 1 allows SDE to use up to $250,000 from the
Aspiring Educators Scholarship Program account, if it is expected to
lapse, to promote the teaching profession.
1 The scholarship is up to $10,000 per student per year enrolled in a teacher preparation
program.
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Section 2 requires the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority
(CHFA) to expand an existing mortgage assistance program for
teachers, which results in costs to CHFA from the authority's own
resources beginning in FY 27 associated with altering and marketing the
program.2
Additional utilization of the Teachers Mortgage Assistance program
is anticipated to result in minimal changes to CHFA's operating
revenues. The bill is not anticipated to materially change the rate of
spending.3
The section additionally requires SDE to annually determine
populations that are underrepresented in the teaching profession in
order to implement Section 1. This has no fiscal impact as SDE has
sufficient expertise to make the determination.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to the level of funding of the scholarship
program and award amounts, the number of applicants, and the amount
of CHFA mortgage assistance provided.
2 CHFA is a quasi-public authority that issues its own federally tax-exempt and taxable
mortgage revenue bonds. The authority pays its operating expenses using funds
derived from the excess of interest income from loans over bond interest expenses.
3 In 2025, CHFA assisted approximately 3,800 first-time homebuyers. Of these buyers,
27 utilized the Teachers Mortgage Assistance Program.
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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 221
AN ACT CONCERNING ASPIRING EDUCATORS.
SUMMARY
This bill makes “aspiring educators,” rather than “diverse
educators,” eligible for existing law’s diversity teacher recruitment
scholarship, which potentially broadens the pool of eligible candidates.
Under current law, the scholarship targets “diverse” students, which
are those whose race is other than white, or whose ethnicity is defined
as Hispanic or Latino by the federal Office of Management and Budget
for use by the U.S. Census Bureau. Under the bill, an “aspiring
educator” is an individual from a population subgroup that (a) is
underrepresented in the teaching profession in Connecticut and (b) has
been identified under state law as a teacher shortage area.
Under current law, the State Department of Education ( SDE)
commissioner annually determines geographic and subject areas with
teacher shortages based on teacher vacancies , new certificates issued ,
and classes being taught by people without training specific to the
subject area. Under the bill, the commissioner must also determine the
population subgroups in which a teacher shortage exists and, when
doing so, consider those that are underrepresented in teaching in the
state based on data in the statewide public school information system
(see BACKGROUND).
This potentially broadens eligibility for the scholarship and shortage
designation. Although the bill does not define “subgroup,” presumably
subgroup categories could include things in addition to race and
ethnicity, such as gender, socio -economic status, disability, or other
similar status.
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The bill also allows the education commissioner to use up to $250,000
of unexpended scholarship funds to promote the teaching profession.
It also makes conforming and technical changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2026
SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Under current law, the aspiring educators diversity student
scholarship program, which the bill renames the aspiring educator s
scholarship program, awards annual scholarships of up to $10,000 to
students who graduated from high school in an alliance district (see
BACKGROUND) and are enrolled in good standing in a teacher
preparation program at any four -year institution of higher education .
The bill eliminates the requirement that students graduate from an
alliance district and replaces it with any school district in the state, thus
broadening eligibility.
The bill requires SDE, in consultation with the Education Committee
chairpersons, to develop a policy for administering the scholarship with
the new criteria by January 1, 2027. SDE must annually award
scholarships under the new criteria beginning FY 27 and , beginning
January 1, 2028, annually submit a report to the Education Committee
with data on the scholarship recipients’ population subgroups and the
teacher preparation programs in which they are enrolled.
Use of Unexpended Funds to Promote Teaching Profession
The bill allows the commissioner , by March first of each year, to
determine if there are any unexpended funds in the program for the
fiscal year and if so, she may use up to $250,000 of them to implement
the teaching profession promotion plan.
By law, the plan must include (1) a way for school districts to develop
partnerships with in -state educator preparation programs and (2)
counseling programs to inform high school students about, and recruit
them to, the teaching profession. It also requires SDE to distribute to
boards of education information that promotes the teaching profession,
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including materials on in -state educator preparation programs and
alternative route to certification programs.
BACKGROUND
Public School Information System
SDE must administer this system to (1) establish a standardized
electronic data collection and reporting protocol to comply with state
and federal reporting requirements, (2) improve the exchange of
information from school -to-school and district -to-district, and (3)
maintain the confidentiality of individual student and teacher data. In
addition to students and teachers, the system includes data on
individual schools and districts and preschool children (CGS § 10-10a(b)
& (c)).
Alliance Districts
The alliance district program requires each of the state’s 36 lowest
performing school districts (as measured by the accountability index
scores) to submit an improvement plan to SDE for approval before the
department releases the district’s alliance funding (a portion of the
annual education cost sharing grant that these districts receive). The
plan must detail how it intends to use its alliance funding and how this
will increase student achievement.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Education Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 45 Nay 0 (03/16/2026)