State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Says California is Well-aligned with the Biden Administration Announcement to Confront Educator Shortage, Highlights Ongoing Work to Address Educator Shortages

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent Thurmond expressed support for the Biden Administration’s announcement of additional supports for Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Programs and other strategies to bolster the teacher pipeline in the wake of a national teacher shortage. Thurmond stated that California was well-aligned and leading the way in many of the areas highlighted in the White House announcement on Wednesday, particularly in the areas of investments for the recruitment and long term retention of school teachers. Superintendent Thurmond and the California Department of Education (CDE) have been convening workgroups with education partners and LEA’s to share recruitment and retention strategies and assist with the expansion of teacher residency programs.

“Teacher shortages are a long-term national issue exacerbated by COVID-19 and California is no exception. However, our advocacy on this issue has resulted in a record $3.6 billion in investments over the last four years that are designed to improve educator recruitment, retention, and training here in California,” Thurmond said. “There is a common debate about what is the most important industry to our economy and society. In California, we often talk about the tech industry or the agricultural industry, but the truth is that education is the key to our future—and that is especially true of public education. We must support our teachers.”

Superintendent Thurmond and the CDE have been working to highlight and promote education job opportunities, expand education career pathways, make tax credits available for teacher housing, and improve and bolster educator recruitment efforts by sponsoring key legislation that has spurred key budget investments by the state.

California’s investments in teacher recruitment and training include:

• $500 million to attract new teachers, counselors, social workers, and school psychologists to schools that need them most. The California Student Aid Commission’s Golden State Teacher Grant Program is aimed at reducing or eliminating a key barrier to pursuing a career in education: the cost of a professional preparation program. The Golden State Teacher Grant provides up to $20,000 to students enrolled in eligible professional preparation programs—like a university credentialing program—to complete their preparation if they commit to working in a “priority school” for four years. This also applies to aspiring school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists.
• Approximately $550 million in Teacher Residency programs. The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s California Teacher Residency Grant Program provides essential funding to jump-start new and to expand existing teacher residencies, which are pathways into the teaching profession that integrate residents’ coursework with a yearlong placement in the classroom of an expert teacher. Residencies can serve as a pipeline for meeting specific local educator workforce needs with well-prepared teachers while providing future teachers with an affordable, supportive, and rigorous pathway into the profession.
• The $1.5 billion Educator Effectiveness Block Grant. Schools, districts, and county offices of education can receive training resources for classified, certificated, and administrative school staff in specified high-need topics, including accelerated learning, social-emotional learning, re-engaging students, restorative practices, and implicit bias training. Per changes in the 2022 Budget Act, these funds can also be used to help teachers earn clear credentials or other authorizations for their credential.

Other investments in teacher retention include:

• $250 million to prepare and incentivize highly-qualified National Board Certified teachers to teach and mentor other instructional staff in high priority schools.
• $20 million to provide a credential fee waiver in 2021-22 for individuals entering the K-12 educator workforce.
• $125 million for the Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program, to support more than 5,000 classified school staff in becoming credentialed teachers.

“Overwhelming evidence shows that student success is tied directly to the teacher in the classroom—with the amount of individualized attention that students receive and the connections they make with teachers, many who become mentors and can have an influence on a student’s life for years to come,” Thurmond said. “Research also shows that all students perform better when there is at least one teacher of color on campus. Black students in particular are more likely to graduate and attend college when they have teachers who look like them. That is why I sponsored a bill to increase male educators of color, which prompted support for teacher residency programs in the current budget.”

In particular, teacher residencies have been an effective means to provide training and smoother transitions to teaching in high-need schools. Many districts in California have formed partnerships with teacher preparation programs where teachers can be compensated for their student teaching. This allows the district to gain access to new teachers entering the profession and hire them straight out of their teacher preparation programs. The teacher candidates, in turn, are already accustomed to the district procedures and policies and also have experience with the students and culture of the school.

For more information on the CDE’s efforts to support the educator work force and the Staffing Shortage Working Group, email workforcerecruitment@cde.ca.gov.

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Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100