Employment of national corps of teachers' training program graduates

(a) Prior to July 1, 2015, the Department of Education may permit qualified graduates of a national corps of teachers' training program, approved by the Commissioner of Education, to be employed under a durational shortage area permit in public schools located in the towns of Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven and state charter schools located in Stamford. (b) Such persons may only be employed in a position at the elementary or secondary level where no certified teacher suitable to the position is available. Such persons shall (1) be enrolled in a planned program leading to certification in the subject area they are teaching, or enrolled in an approved alternate route to certification program or a program with state approval pending and that meets the standards for an alternate route to certification program, and (2) have completed at least twelve semester hours of credit or have passed the assessment approved by the State Board of Education in the subject area they will teach. The State Board of Education may grant a durational shortage area permit, endorsed consistent with this section, to a person who meets the qualifications for such permit as modified by this section. In granting such permits, the board shall give priority to addressing the needs of the schools operated by the boards of education for the towns of Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven, and then to the needs of state charter schools located in Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford. Such permit shall be valid for one year and shall be renewable once.