Education Committee
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: SB-945
AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT
Title: OF EDUCATION.
Vote Date: 3/15/2021
Vote Action: Joint Favorable
PH Date: 3/3/2021
File No.:
Disclaimer: The following JOINT FAVORABLE Report is prepared for the benefit of the
members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and
explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber
thereof for any purpose.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
Education Committee
REASONS FOR BILL:
This bill puts in place the technical changes suggested by the State Department of Education.
Section 1: Requires that transition services be written into IEPs starting at age 14.
Sections 2-3: Change the requirements for certification of bilingual and resident teachers.
Sections 4-6: Edits and removes certain background check requirements.
Section 7: Allows SDE, through the Atty. General to bring a suit against an organization that
misused state funds.
Sections 8: 10-12: Resolves contradictory language and removes obsolete language and
requirements.
Section 9: Requires that a PPT be held prior to enrolling a special education student in a
technical high school.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Charlene Russel-Tucker, Deputy Commissioner, State Department of Education:
Section 2 will help to address current areas of shortage. Section 6 changes to background
checks for charter management employees will allow the statutes to reflect the system used
by the FBI. Section 7 was recommended by the Auditor of Public Accounts following the
closure of the Path Academy. The meeting required by Section 9 will address the student's
transition and ensure that their IEP reflects the supports and services that they require. Other
sections edit and remove unnecessary language bring statutes into line with current
practices.
Sarah Healy Eagan, Acting Child Advocate, Office of the Child Advocate: OCA strongly
supports Section 1 of this bill, as transition planning is an urgent need for children with
disabilities.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Maria Morelli-Wolfe, Attorney, Greater Hartford Legal Aid: GHLA, as well as Connecticut
Legal Services and New Haven Legal Assistance, supports Section 1's efforts to lower the
age for transition services to be written into IEPs to match the age for autistic students.
Andrew Feinstein, Attorney, Special Education Equity for Kids in Connecticut
John Flanders, Board of Directors, Special Education Equity for Kids in Connecticut
Public Act 19-49, passed in 2019, already lowered the age for transition services to be written
into IEPs to 14 for autistic students. Section 1 of this bill will not only clarify the law for autistic
students but expand it to all students with disabilities. Section 9 will help address
discrimination against students with disabilities, but it does not address the statutory
misdirection of 10-76q, which gives the state board of education authority beyond their
capacity and jurisdiction.
Gale Heath, Administrative Associate, Connecticut Association of Boards of
Education, Inc.
Orlando Rodriguez, Research and Policy Development Specialist, Connecticut
Education Association
Daisy Torres, President-Elect, Connecticut Association of Latino Administrators and
Superintendents
The new requirements in Section 2 of this bill would eliminate expensive and time-consuming
assessments of proficiency without lowering standards. It will also help address shortages of
bilingual teachers. CEA also recommends that this legislation go further than Section 7 to
hold charter schools accountable for misuse of funds and mistreatment of students.
Steven Hegedus, President, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education-
CT Chapter: Sections 2 and 3 of this bill would help expand the pool of people interested in
becoming a teacher, particularly in terms of addressing the shortages of bilingual educators.
Marie DeSanto Schweitzer, Council and Research Analyst, House Republican Office
Win Evarts, Executive Director, The Arc Connecticut
Kathryn Scheinberg Meyer, Senior Staff Attorney, Medical Legal Partnership Project at
Yale Child Study Center
Section 9 of this bill will ensure that the needs of students with lEPs are being met. It will put
these students in the position that all students should be in, having the right education
programs and courses of study for them put in place prior to their enrollment. This will
address the discrimination that has kept children out of the technical education and career
system.
Page 2 of 3 SB-945
Ed Leavy, President, State Vocational Federation of Teachers: This bill is a helpful first
step in establishing a PPT process for special education students in technical high schools,
but the responsibility of decision making is unclear and seems to belong to the sending
district. This sparks several safety concerns, as sending superintendents may not understand
the situation in technical high schools, and my offload students simply for financial reasons.
David Lenihan, Director of Government Affairs, Connecticut Association of School
Business Officials: They support this bill and ask that it include revisions to 10-51d (2), to
allow regional school districts to deposit up to 2% of the annual district budget into a reserve
fund for capital and nonrecurring expenditures, as they were overlooked for this policy in
2019.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
There are no sources of opposition for this bill.
Reported by: Dallas Emerle Date: 3/16/2021
Page 3 of 3 SB-945


Statutes affected:
Raised Bill: 10-145h, 10-145m, 10-66rr, 10-76q, 10-148b
ED Joint Favorable: 10-145h, 10-145m, 10-66rr, 10-76q, 10-148b
File No. 290: 10-145h, 10-145m, 10-66rr, 10-76q, 10-148b
JUD Joint Favorable: 10-145h, 10-145m, 10-66rr, 10-76q, 10-148b
Public Act No. 21-144: 10-145h, 10-145m, 10-66rr, 10-76q, 10-148b