NAICU Washington Update

Biden Administration Issues Call to Action on Teacher Shortage

April 01, 2022

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona issued a call to action this week, asking governors, college presidents, and school districts to use existing COVID relief funds for education to address the nation’s teacher shortage. As a follow up to President Biden’s comment in the State of the Union address on the same topic, Cardona is asking education leaders to “increase the number of teacher candidates prepared to enter the profession as early as possible.”

The Department of Education issued a fact sheet outlining what states, colleges and school districts can do to meet this charge, and how funds from the American Rescue Plan can be used to address the teacher shortage. For example, according to the Department, higher education could increase the number of teacher residency programs and program capacity to train more teachers, work with states to establish teaching as a Registered Apprenticeship, or establish loan forgiveness or service scholarship programs for new teachers in high need areas. 
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