State grant to support local teacher recruitment, retainment efforts

Brooke McAfee, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·2 min read

Oct. 4—SOUTHERN INDIANA — A state grant will help Southern Indiana schools in the effort to attract and retain teachers in the community.

The Indiana Department of Education has announced the recipients of the Attract, Prepare, Retain grant, a program that will support local efforts to combat teacher shortages.

Schools in Clark and Floyd counties are receiving a combined $285,180. Indiana University was the lead applicant for the grant, and partner organizations include Greater Clark County Schools, New Albany-Floyd County Schools, Silver Creek School Corp. and Ivy Tech Community College in Sellersburg.

Faye Camahalan, dean of the Indiana University Southeast School of Education, said the grant will help IUS work with local K-12 schools to recruit future teachers from high school.

"We heard that over 100 applications were submitted, and we're happy to have received this award," she said. "We're committed to what we've promised to do, and hopefully even after the grant, we will continue to partner with K-12 schools for teacher recruitment to help the community respond to teacher shortages."

The grant will go toward scholarships that will cover two years of tuition for students in the IUS School of Education, she said. This could help graduating high school students who have already built dual credits and students who have already received a two-year associate degree in education from Ivy Tech.

The money will also help with professional development activities at the high school level for students interested in pursuing education careers. The goal is to not only help students become teachers, but also to keep them in the area.

"Once they're in the teacher education program (at IUS), we'll continue mentoring them to make sure they really go into teaching with the hope and with the agreement that as they finish the teacher prep program, they're going to teach with the local K-12 districts," Camahalan said.

The goal of the program is to recruit diverse teachers to teach diverse classrooms, including educators who come from underrepresented populations, Camahalan said.

"Maybe you're a first-generation college graduate or you're from a community that's underserved," she said. "Diverse students need to have diverse teachers as role models."

Across the state, 29 counties are receiving $10.6 million from the Attract, Prepare, Retain grant. The funding comes from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.

"The recipients of this grant understand the challenges of today's labor market and know that schools and community partners must work together to find creative methods for recruiting and retaining Indiana's very best educators," Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said in a news release. "Whether through the expansion of registered apprenticeships, Grow Your Own programs, or partnerships with local and national higher education providers, the innovative solutions funded by this grant will provide important support for Indiana educators and students."