Washington, D.C. — Poor working conditions and high turnover among teachers in low-income communities deprive students, many of whom are students of color, of equitable access to high-quality teachers. Today, the Center for American Progress released a new proposal to address these issues and improve student outcomes by creating the Targeted Grants for Educational Excellence program. The proposal was designed based on feedback from communities in Mississippi and Arizona, which suffer from some of the greatest teacher turnover.
The Targeted Grants for Educational Excellence program would create improved teacher worker conditions in traditionally hard-to-staff schools by providing professional salaries; improving recruitment and hiring practices; investing in high-quality teacher training and development; and structuring and staffing schools to recognize teachers’ professionalism and the demands on their time. Participating schools would also make changes to their climate and learning conditions by enhancing supports for students—such as access to mental health care—and building and sustaining partnerships with teacher prep programs, among other efforts.
“All students deserve access to high-quality teachers, but high turnover and poor working conditions deter many from working in the communities that would benefit most from excellent teaching. The Targeted Grants for Educational Excellence program would provide urgently needed resources to support schools’ efforts to improve working conditions for teachers and foster a healthy school climate,” said Bayliss Fiddiman, associate director for K-12 Education at CAP and co-author of the report.
Please click here to read: “How To Ensure Equitable Access to Great Teaching: A Proposal for Targeted Grants for Educational Excellence” by Bayliss Fiddiman and Lisette Partelow
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Colin Seeberger at [email protected] or 202-741-6292.