Colorado has not yet recovered from the pandemic when it comes to fully staffing its public schools.
This past school year, districts faced a shortage of nearly 7,000 teachers, about 12% of the workforce needed.
Margarita Tovar, chief talent officer for the Colorado Department of Education, said a successful program is helping to increase the number of teachers in parts of the state facing the biggest shortfalls by removing cost as a barrier from entering the profession.
"The Colorado Department of Education is inviting aspiring educators who are interested in teaching in a shortage area, and who can commit to working in that area for three years to apply for up to $10,000," Tovar explained.
Educator recruitment and retention stipends are meant to help cover educator preparation program fees. Applicants must be enrolled in a Colorado-approved traditional or alternative educator preparation program, or be enrolled in a Career and Technical Education credential program. Other qualifications and applications can be found online at cde.state.co.us. The deadline for applying is Sept. 30.
When the program launched in 2021, 80 educators got stipends and agreed to work specifically in rural school districts. After lawmakers expanded the program to include the entire state in 2022, 749 educators got stipends. Tovar pointed out low wages remain one of the biggest challenges for attracting new teachers. And with schools now caught up in the nation's culture wars, the profession is not always seen in a positive light.
"Politically, nationwide we are facing challenges with folks attacking public education," Tovar observed. "That certainly hurts us when we talk about recruitment and retention."
Nearly 25% of educators who got stipends in 2022 were educators of color, which is in sync with the state's demographics. Overall, just 16% of the state's teachers are people of color.
Tovar cited a number of benefits when educators look and sound like their students.
"When we have a teaching body that mirrors the student demographics that we have in our state, academic rates go up, attendance rates go up and discipline infractions lower," Tovar outlined.
Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.
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School funding is ranked as the top education priority in a spring survey of 850 Marion County voters by the education organization RISE Indy.
With 73% of Indianapolis' public school students in grades 3-8 reading below grade level, respondents indicated they want stronger schools and believe policymakers are the gatekeepers for improvement. RISE Indy specializes in closing the academic achievement gap for historically marginalized communities.
Jasmine Jackson, chief of staff for the group, said a child's access to a good school should not be determined by income, networking or their ability to get to a "certain" school.
"The political work allows us to support education champions and keep them honest and accountable," Jackson explained. "Our policy work allows us to work with elected officials to promote kids. And our programmatic work allows us to train them through literacy, through board governance."
U.S. News and World Report said almost 38% of students in Indianapolis public schools are Black, slightly more than 36% are Hispanic and 21% are white.
Among survey respondents, 33% ranked school transportation as a top priority. Parents want the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, a group created by the Indiana General Assembly to manage public education, to also address transportation challenges.
Jackson believes not just access but school choice should not sway the alliance's decisions.
"Voters desire one system that addresses transportation for all Indianapolis students, regardless of whether they're in IPs or public charter schools," Jackson emphasized. "We need a combined transportation system that is efficient, safe, students are not on the bus for over an hour one way to school."
According to the poll, 83% of respondents support a combined transportation system to streamline operations, reduce costs and improve service reliability. The Indianapolis Public Schools website indicates its school buses cover approximately 20,000 miles per school year.
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Panic has set in at school districts across the Golden State as the Trump administration continues to withhold federal funds.
Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction, said California school districts stand to immediately lose close to $1 billion.
Luis Valentino, retired superintendent of Coachella Valley Unified School District and host of the podcast "District Leader: Transforming Education," said unless it is resolved quickly, schools will be forced to cut back or even eliminate programs.
"Without timely allocation tables from the United States Department of Education, states will be left uncertain, making it challenging to prepare for the 2025-26 school year," Valentino explained. "School districts, especially those in high-poverty and rural areas, will be left scrambling."
Last week the Department of Education notified schools across the country five grant programs are now "under review" to determine if they align with administration priorities. In a statement to Real Clear Politics, the Office of Management and Budget said "initial findings have shown that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical left-wing agenda." The grants in question fund summer learning, teacher professional development and after-school programs. They also fund English language classes and support for children of migrants.
The grants are usually distributed on July 1. Valentino warned there will be far-reaching consequences if the congressionally-approved funding is not restored.
"Migrant children, English language learners and those in low-performing schools stand to lose vital support that helps them meet academic benchmarks," Valentino pointed out. "This decision will only exacerbate existing educational inequities across each state."
Programs already underway this summer are now in limbo. In a statement, the head of the Boys and Girls Clubs said without the promised funding, more than 900 sites nationwide serving 220,000 kids could be forced to shut their doors, taking almost 6,000 jobs with them.
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The Arkansas Space Grant Consortium at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will use an $800,000 NASA grant to train students in STEM education and aerospace research.
Across the state, 18 colleges and universities are part of the consortium.
Constance Meadors, director of the consortium, said the program trains students to work for NASA as well as preparing them to work in the local aerospace industry.
"We really focus on workforce development, skills development and training," Meadors outlined. "We look to see how we can meet the needs of NASA, but also our goal is to meet the needs of the State of Arkansas as it relates to aerospace or workforce development."
Currently, 10 Arkansas college students are participating in internships at NASA Centers.
Part of the grant money will be used to create portable planetarium programs at several of the affiliate campuses, including Southern Arkansas University and Henderson State University. Students will take the planetariums to schools and community events to introduce more people to space science education.
Meadors added a recent graduate of the consortium received a research position due to his experience in the program.
"Because of having Space Grant research and experience in rocketry, the company had bumped him up," Meadors reported. "We want to impact our local aerospace industry as well, because aerospace is the number 1 export in the State of Arkansas. And so, we want to have homegrown employees."
The consortium will hold its first NASA ASTRO Camp in Arkansas in the fall semester, to teach students and faculty members how to share space exploration with younger students.
Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.
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