(a) For purposes of this section “teacher” means a certified professional employee who is employed by a local or regional board of education (1) in a position requiring a teaching or other certificate issued by the State Board of Education but who is not in a position requiring an intermediate administrator or supervisor certificate, or the equivalent thereof, and (2) whose administrative or supervisory duties, if any, equal less than fifty per cent of the assigned time of such employee.

(b) There is established the Connecticut Advisory Council for Teacher Professional Standards. The council shall be composed of seventeen members appointed as follows: The Governor shall appoint one public member who shall represent business and industry; the State Board of Education shall appoint two members, one of whom shall be a member of the faculty or administration of a State Board of Education approved teacher preparation program and one of whom shall be a public member who shall represent business and industry; the president pro tempore of the Senate shall appoint one member who shall represent business and industry; the speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint one member who shall be a parent of a child attending a public elementary or secondary school; the majority leader of the Senate shall appoint one member who shall be a member of a local or regional board of education; the majority leader of the House of Representatives shall appoint one member who shall be a school superintendent; the minority leader of the Senate shall appoint two members, one of whom shall be a public member and one of whom shall be a parent of a child attending a public elementary or secondary school; the minority leader of the House of Representatives shall appoint two members, one of whom shall be a public member and one of whom shall be a school administrator; the Connecticut Education Association shall appoint four members who shall be classroom teachers at the time of their appointment and during the term of their membership on the council, two of whom shall be elementary school teachers; and the American Federation of Teachers-Connecticut shall appoint two members who shall be classroom teachers at the time of their appointment and during the term of their membership on the council, one of whom shall be an elementary school teacher. All appointments shall be made and the names of the persons appointed shall be submitted to the Commissioner of Education not later than October 1, 1990.

(c) The initial terms for the members appointed by the Governor, the State Board of Education and the majority and minority leaders of the House of Representatives, two of the members appointed by the Connecticut Education Association and one of the members appointed by the American Federation of Teachers-Connecticut shall terminate on September 30, 1991. The initial terms for all other members shall terminate on September 30, 1992. Terms following the initial terms shall be for three years, except that terms following the initial terms for the members appointed by the Governor and the State Board of Education, and terms following the initial terms for two of the members appointed by the Connecticut Education Association, shall terminate on September 30, 1993; and terms following the initial terms for the members appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate and terms following the initial terms for one of the members appointed by the Connecticut Education Association shall terminate on September 30, 1994; thereafter, terms for such appointees shall be for three years.

(d) The Commissioner of Education shall convene the first meeting of the council not later than November 15, 1990. The council shall establish its procedures and shall select from its membership a chairperson who shall be a classroom teacher.

(e) The council shall (1) advise the State Board of Education, the Governor and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education concerning teacher preparation, teacher recruitment, teacher retention, teacher certification, teacher professional development, teacher assessment and evaluation and teacher professional discipline; (2) review and comment upon all regulations and other standards concerning the approval of teacher preparation programs and teacher certification; (3) report to the State Board of Education, the Governor and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education not later than January 15, 1991, and annually thereafter, on its activities and recommendations, if any, concerning the condition of the teaching profession; and (4) develop a code of professional responsibility for teachers not later than September 30, 1991.

(P.A. 90-324, S. 6, 13; P.A. 93-353, S. 20, 52; P.A. 01-173, S. 14, 67; P.A. 17-68, S. 5.)

History: P.A. 93-353 amended Subsec. (c) to extend the terms following the initial terms from two to three years and added the exceptions, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 01-173 amended Subsec. (b) to make a technical change to update the name of one of the appointing teacher organizations, effective July 1, 2001; P.A. 17-68 amended Subsec. (b) by replacing “Connecticut Federation of Educational and Professional Employees” with “American Federation of Teachers-Connecticut”, amended Subsec. (c) by replacing “Connecticut State Federation of Teachers” with “American Federation of Teachers-Connecticut”, and amended Subsec. (e)(1) by adding “teacher retention”, effective July 1, 2017.