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2/14/2025
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Rep. O’Brien introduces bills to address teacher shortages
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STATE HOUSE – Rep. William W. O’Brien has introduced two bills to address teacher shortages in Rhode Island’s public schools.
The first bill (2025-H 5322) would extend the temporary limit on the number of days that retired teachers, administrators and staff members can return to work as substitute employees during any school year. The sunset provision would be extended from June 20, 2025 until July 1, 2026. The bill has been referred to the House Finance Committee.
“Our state is facing a significant shortage of qualified teachers and this troubling fact poses a real threat to the quality of education received by some of our state’s students. This bill will allow seasoned and experienced retired teachers to provide even more support in the classroom to help the dedicated, but significantly short-staffed, teachers and our students who deserve qualified, quality teachers,” said Representative O’Brien (D-Dist. 54, North Providence).
The second bill (2025-H 5339) would provide that until July 1, 2027, an applicant for a teaching certificate in Rhode Island would not be required to complete a standardized teacher’s examination as a prerequisite to obtaining a teaching certificate. The bill has been referred to the House Education Committee.
“The teacher’s exam in Rhode Island is far more strenuous than compared to Massachusetts and Connecticut, and in turn, our state is losing many new teachers to both of these states. Teachers are already reviewed by principals for the first three years of employment, so if a teacher is not capable or fit to teach, they can be let go. This exam is just another impediment to finding new and future teachers, and doing away with it will help ease the teacher shortage crisis,” said Representative O’Brien.
“Rhode Island public schools are still facing an unprecedented teacher shortage which negatively impacts students. Both pieces of legislation submitted by Representative O’Brien will help increase the pool of qualified applicants in the short term and long term. The suspension of the standardized exam requirement also will remove a significant impediment exacerbating the shortage, and enable more prospective teacher candidates to join this very noble and fulfilling profession,” said North Providence Schools Superintendent Joseph Goho. Superintendent Goho was recently named the 2025 Rhode Island Superintendent of the Year by the Rhode Island Superintendents’ Association.
Representative O’Brien is working with Superintendent Goho, the North Providence School Committee, and teachers and staff on both pieces of legislation.
For more information, contact:
Andrew Caruolo, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-6124
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