Hartford

Hartford Public Schools Announce New Program to Recruit Teachers From Caribbean

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It's a big day for Hartford Public Schools as the administration made an announcement about a new teacher recruitment program intended to bring new faces to the classroom.

Following the success of a similar program called Paso a Paso, which was focused on recruiting teachers from Puerto Rico, the district is expanding recruitment efforts in the Caribbean.

The new program, called Caribbean Connection, is part of a larger hiring effort to address teacher shortages driven by the pandemic. It's also a fresh way to be able to expand cultural connections in the community.

"We had to welcome, you know, hundreds of students into Hartford Public Schools, and we thought about how can we create this opportunity, where, you know, they're having to leave their homeland and, you know, come into a new space and new community? And how do we create this system of support?” said Hartford Public Schools Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez.

Fifteen teachers from the Caribbean will be granted visas to join the district for the 2023-24 school year.

“We are facing a shortage of applicants, we are seeing some teachers leave the profession and it is vital we do everything we can to make sure we can bring in the best teachers to work with our incredible kids,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said.

The new hires will receive incentives for coming to Connecticut, including a $5,000 sign-on bonus, $2,000 for moving expenses and up to $4,000 to secure housing in Hartford.

Dr. Tiffany Curtis, the chief talent officer, said teachers will come here for three years with the option to extend for up to five years, and then return to their home.

“We know the Puerto Rican community is a large and vibrant community, the West Indian community is also,” Torres-Rodriguez said.

Hartford’s superintendent said they received more than 140 applications for the Caribbean Connection program but could only accept 15 applicants because of visa limitations.

School officials said they are working to increase that number.

They district still has more than 200 open positions. For more information on how to apply, click here.

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