OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sHB-5436
AN ACT CONCERNING EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION.
AMENDMENT
LCO No.: 4872
File Copy No.: 369
House Calendar No.: 244
Primary Analyst: DD 4/30/24
Contributing Analyst(s): SB, RDP, TM, MM, JP, BP (FN)
OFA Fiscal Note
See Fiscal Note Details
The amendment strikes the underlying bill and its associated fiscal
impact.
The amendment makes a variety of changes regarding teacher
certification, school climate, and the provision of services to certain
students. The impact of these changes is described by section below.
Sections 1 - 8 result in a revenue loss to the resources of the General
Fund of approximately $1 million to $2 million annually beginning in
FY 26.
The amendment makes a variety of changes to the educator
certification process, including eliminating or reducing certain licensing
requirements and associated fees. The elimination and reduction of
these fees results in an annual revenue loss of approximately $1 million
to $2 million to the resources of the General Fund annually beginning in
FY 26.
Section 9 makes a change regarding the responsibilities of the
Advisory Council for Teacher Professional Standards. This has no fiscal
impact, as it is anticipated that the Council can meet the responsibilities
with existing resources. 2024HB-05436-R00LCO04872-FNA.DOCX Page 2 of 4
Sections 10 – 14, and 19 establish a Connecticut Educator Preparation
and Certification Board and require the board to develop a variety of
reports and proposals regarding a comprehensive update of the
educator certification process. Section 19 requires the Office of Policy
and Management to reclassify an existing vacant position within the
State Department of Education (SDE) for the purpose of staffing the
board.
It is anticipated that filling an existing vacant position will result in
annualized costs of $141,250 beginning in FY 26 to SDE. The salary for
such a position is anticipated to be $100,000, with associated fringe
benefits costs of $41,250. FY 25 costs of $70,625 ($50,000 for salary and
$20,625 for fringe benefits) are associated with a January 1, 2025 hire
date.
Section 15 makes changes to the way edTPA may be used for
educator certification and assessment, including by teacher preparation
programs. This has no fiscal impact as it does not change any costs
associated with such certification or assessment.
Sections 16 and 17 have no fiscal impact. They make changes to the
certification process for certain educators at the Connecticut Technical
Education and Career System and within comprehensive high schools.
These changes do not change any costs associated with such
certification.
Section 18 results in a cost to local and regional school districts
beginning in FY 25 by reducing the number of hours that certain
noncertified school employees must have worked in the prior year in
order to qualify for unpaid family and medical leave benefits.
To the extent that a non-certified employee (1) becomes eligible for
these benefits due to the bill's lower threshold, and (2) takes unpaid
leave, there is a cost to local and regional school districts to provide
overtime for covering employees. Any cost is anticipated to be minimal.
Sections 20 - 38 make technical changes which have no fiscal impact. 2024HB-05436-R00LCO04872-FNA.DOCX Page 3 of 4
Section 39 results in a cost of approximately $10,000 in FY 25 to the
Office of the State Comptroller to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of each
local or regional board of education providing health coverage under a
partnership plan for their employees.
Section 40 requires a teacher to be appointed to the Governor's
Workforce Council. This has no fiscal impact as it is not anticipated to
change any costs incurred by the Council.
Sections 41 - 50 make various changes to mandated reporter failure
offenses. These changes result in a potential cost to the Department of
Correction and the Judicial Department for incarceration or probation
and a potential revenue gain to the General Fund from fines to the extent
that these changes result in more offenses. On average, the marginal
cost to the state for incarcerating an offender for the year is $3,300
1
while
the average marginal cost for supervision in the community is less than
$800
2
each year for adults. Few violations are anticipated.
3
Section 51 expands the Aspiring Educators Diversity Scholarship
Program within SDE to students in teacher preparation programs who
graduated from any Alliance District, rather than any Priority School
District (PSD), beginning in FY 25. This opens the program to students
from 20 additional school districts and will increase costs. The amount
of the increase is dependent on the number of students who apply for
and receive the scholarship who graduated from Alliance Districts (that
are not also PSDs). The account is currently projected to lapse $2 million
(50 percent of its total appropriation) in FY 24.
Section 52 makes technical changes and has no fiscal impact.
1
Inmate marginal cost is based on increased consumables (e.g., food, clothing, water,
sewage, living supplies, etc.) This does not include a change in staffing costs or utility
expenses because these would only be realized if a unit or facility opened.
2
Probation marginal cost is based on services provided by private providers and only
includes costs that increase with each additional participant. This does not include a
cost for additional supervision by a probation officer unless a new offense is
anticipated to result in enough additional offenders to require additional probation
officers.
3
Since FY 14, less than 40 charges were recorded for similar offenses. 2024HB-05436-R00LCO04872-FNA.DOCX Page 4 of 4
The preceding Fiscal Impact statement is prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely
for the purposes of information, summarization and explanation and does 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.