Cheshire school leaders told Representative Linehan that hiring teachers has become more difficult in recent years, with local housing availability and affordability cited as core barriers to recruiting early-career educators.

Board members described a shrinking national pipeline and said Cheshire increasingly attracts experienced educators from other districts rather than recent graduates, which raises recruitment costs and reduces opportunities to develop new teachers locally. “It's hard to bring in new people when there isn't enough housing,” a delegation member said.

Representative Linehan outlined past and possible policy responses. She described an earlier “Learn Here, Live Here” concept that would return a portion of a participant’s taxes or provide student-loan forgiveness if they stayed and worked in the state for a period; she said past legislation was modified to become student-loan forgiveness for teachers and that she plans to reintroduce or revive similar ideas. Linehan also recommended turning surplus municipal housing into lower-cost options for teachers and municipal employees, subject to legal and contractual constraints, and said she will research whether occupancy preference for municipal workers can be legally structured.

Why this matters: board members and the delegation tied teacher recruitment to broader local economic development and housing supply. Linehan said the governor has discussed teacher recruitment but that programs may need retooling to address current shortages.

Ending: The delegation encouraged the board to keep sharing ideas and said legislators may revisit incentive programs this session.