Educator Pipeline

To improve the educator pipeline, a number of strategies have been identified related to teacher student debt, teacher recognition, and literacy training. These strategies will address many of the challenges stakeholders identified for this charge, including student debt accumulation due to high tuition costs and low wages, lack of knowledge about loan forgiveness programs, unpaid training requirements for Educator Preparation Programs, teacher shortages in certain subjects and rural areas, and how teaching as a profession is valued overall. These challenges create bottlenecks in the supply of highly qualified and well-trained individuals entering the teaching profession across the state. 

In order to ensure that young people across the state receive high-quality educations that prepare them for future success, the Commissioners are committed to improving the educator pipeline by reviewing and streamlining the state’s financial aid system, including supporting entry into the teaching profession. The implementation of House Bill 3’s reading improvement strategies will enhance teacher education and recognition of effective performance. Similarly, House Bill 3’s Teacher Incentive Allotment creates a pathway for high–performing teachers to obtain six–figure salaries, a development that is designed to create profoundly positive impacts on recruitment and retention for the teaching profession. Finally, certain other targeted efforts, including new teacher mentoring, grow-your-own educator pathway programs, and robust teacher residency systems will continue to develop a strong educator pipeline as those efforts are thoughtfully scaled.