Bold Vision for Addressing Educator Shortage Allows 莫里奇教育学院 Students to Thrive

In the aftermath of a worldwide p和emic, as many industries face both new 和 compounding challenges, Colorado has taken a bold step to address the state-wide teacher shortage: giving students who are training to be teachers an influx of cash—a measure aimed at alleviating the financial burden of student teaching.

它叫做 学生教育津贴计划. 这个项目 awards money to students who meet need-based requirements to compensate them for their clinical experience. Individuals receive up to $11,000 for a 16-week residency 和 up to $22,000 for a 22-week residency.

Around 700 c和idates across the state of Colorado participated in the 2022-23 program, 和 at the 莫里奇教育学院, 64 students were able to participate thanks to a $1.400万赠款.

“It’s very difficult for students to have other jobs [while student teaching],院长米歇尔·奈特-曼努埃尔说. “It lessens the impact of your academic residency. These funds are to help students focus 和 concentrate.”

To gain a greater underst和ing of the impact of the program, 莫格里奇调查了受助人, 结果是, 曼纽尔说, 是惊人的.

Marie Moore says the stipend is the reason she left graduate school debt-free.

“We [teach] because we love the profession 和 the students,” says Moore. “Having more financial security frees us to do so with less stress 和 worry.”

这种影响不仅仅是经济上的. 它也能建立信心.

In 2020, Essance 科尔多瓦 was five months pregnant when she lost her job due to COVID-19. She knew she wanted to go back to school, 但随着生活开始改变, 她不知道这是否可行.

科尔多瓦, 谁住在约德, a rural town about an hour from Colorado Springs, was initially nervous about feeling connected. Not only did she feel like she belonged in the classroom, but she also encountered her first professor of color, an experience missing at her previous institution.

“I loved this program 和 being a part of this community. This stipend has been very helpful in many ways, 和 now I am able to build something for my son that I never had,科尔多瓦说。.

Right now, the program is federally funded as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. Manuel’s vision is to see this program become a permanent fixture in Colorado, which would require funding by the state. Manuel is working on a plan to show legislators why their support is needed.

“The professions we’re talking about are the professions that are the bedrock of our nation,曼纽尔说。. “We’re talking about really supporting 和 diversifying the workforce in the state of Colorado, which is really one of the Governor’s top priorities. We feel we’re absolutely contributing to the public good.”