NEW HAVEN, Conn. —

As the new school year kicks off, the New Haven school district is still short dozens of teachers.

District officials say they're making progress with hiring and have filled a considerable number of positions, but the city teachers’ union has concerns about the shortage along with budget cuts from earlier this year potentially hurting students and staff.

Rolanda Booker, coordinator for recruitment and retention at New Haven Public Schools, says late summer hiring helped reduce the number of vacancies before the school year started and that vacancies are down all around compared to last year.

“For example, last year at this time we had 16 math vacancies, where today we stand with only four,” said Booker. “We still have some work to do, but we’re in a much better pos

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