COLUMBIA, S.C. — Teacher shortages around the country are no secret. In the Midlands, it is no different.
As many schools struggle to fill classrooms with qualified individuals, the US Department of Education is trying to help with money.
On Monday, the department announced it would be giving nearly $25 million to "recruit, prepare, develop and support a strong and diverse educator workforce" for schools in the United States. The department is providing money as grants throughout the country.
“At the U.S. Department of Education, we recognize the value of supporting our nation’s educators, and we have a responsibility to providing resources and opportunities that promote a diverse educator workforce,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “These programs help prepare, place, develop, and retain effective teachers and leaders in our schools and classrooms. Our students need quality educators now more than ever to address their academic and mental health needs.”
Columbia College is one of the schools receiving money. Specifically, the school will receive $589,163.
Tracy West, who works at Columbia College, says the money will be used to help their Alternative Pathways to Education Certification program (APEC). APEC is a year-long residency program for individuals that want to earn their teacher certification while still making money.
"They are moving together as a cohort through graduate course work, because all of our participants have completed undergraduate degrees previously, and then throughout the work-embedded residency, have the opportunity to implement, or put into practice, the theory and pedagogy that they're learning in the classroom."
The University of South Carolina is also receiving funding from the Department of Education totaling $1,152,376. Thomas Hodges, interim dean of UofSC's education college, says the money will be used to help teachers in rural areas.
“The College of Education is excited to partner with the Department of Education to advance the educator workforce needs in South Carolina. For the past five years, the University of South Carolina has been home to SC-TEACHER, the state’s Center for Research on Teacher Education, which has uncovered a more detailed understanding of the state’s educator shortages through large data analysis, teacher exit surveys and other research efforts," Hodges said. "We know this to be a particularly powerful design in support of rural communities in South Carolina. For the upcoming year, we are poised to accelerate our understandings of teacher working conditions through a statewide survey, as well as design innovative professional learning experiences that will help stabilize the teacher workforce in South Carolina.”
The Department of Education recently released a survey about how schools are using money which can be found here.