Connecticut has the largest achievement gap in the country, an unacceptable disparity in achievement of children who are poor and/or minority with children who are middle class and/or white. Hartford, its capital city, is the site of some of the state's most concentrated poverty and racial isolation. All but a small percentage of the district's 22,000 students are Hispanic and African-American. This report looks at how Hartford attracts, develops and retains teachers, concluding that it's current policies hinder the district's ability to raise student achievement and narrow Connecticut's worst-in-the-nation achievement gap. This analysis reviews the Hartford Public Schools' teacher policies linked most directly to teacher effectiveness. It puts forward ten policy goals that frames the analysis. Each of these ten goals is supported by a strong rationale that is grounded by the best research, as well as the best practitioner insight available. This report makes recommendations for Hartford Public Schools in the areas of teacher compensation, transfer and assignment, work life and school climate, and developing effective teachers and exiting ineffective teachers. (Contains 18 figures and 7 footnotes.)