In a country where Black men make up less than 2% of the teaching workforce, a program in Jacksonville is working to shift the balance by recruiting 1,000 Black male teachers by 2025.

Led by the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, the "1,000 by 2025" initiative seeks to increase classroom diversity, offering essential representation for Black students who often lack role models within the education system.

Danté Jennings, director of strategic initiatives for the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, said in addition to research showing net positive results, he believes the effort is crucial to ensuring students see themselves reflected in the classroom.

"Not only is it positive for our Black and Brown students to see themselves and who they're getting taught, inspired, molded by - corrected by, even - in schools as well," Jennings asserted. "All students benefit from having diverse male presence in their buildings."

Since its launch, the initiative has made steady progress. However, Jennings acknowledged significant challenges in recruitment, including low pay and retention issues. As of the latest count in September, more than 700 diverse male educators have joined classrooms, approaching the program's goal.

Meanwhile, discussions on educational equity and representation are gaining momentum nationally. Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced her "Opportunity Agenda for Black Men," which includes expanding loan forgiveness programs for Black male teachers and investing in HBCU-led initiatives aligning closely with Jacksonville's goal to build a sustainable pipeline of educators.

Despite challenges, Jennings noted the program is reassessing and troubleshooting issues to reach its goals, forging collaborations with local universities, including historically Black colleges and universities.

"The teacher vacancy to teacher discrepancy in the workforce versus the student demographics is not unique to Jacksonville," Jennings pointed out. "It is a nationwide issue. So we wanted to kind of position ourselves as a model for what could be done."

Jennings hopes the partnerships will create structured pathways for students in teacher education programs to enter the profession, providing mentorship and financial support. Research shows Black male teachers, like Black male students, often encounter racial biases, including heightened scrutiny and misunderstandings from school administrators and peers, which poses another challenge for recruitment.

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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