LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Hoping to address its teaching shortage and attract more minorities into the profession, Jefferson County Public Schools announced a new one-year residency program with the University of Louisville on Thursday.
The Louisville Teacher Residency program, the first of its kind in Kentucky, will be open to 30 participants in its inaugural class, and graduates will not only walk out with a job offers from JCPS to work in low-performing schools for five years, but also master's degrees and alternative certifications.
Participants must have a bachelor's degree, at least a 2.7 grade-point average and "a desire to teach," JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio said.
"Teachers become teachers because they want to impact the lives of young people in this community, and that's the most important part of it," Pollio said.
Starting in June, participants will begin taking classes at UofL and receiving professional development from JCPS before transitioning into actual classroom work with a "master" teacher once the 2020-21 school year begins. They'll get classroom experience Mondays through Thursdays and take courses at UofL on Fridays.
They'll also get paid by JCPS during the residency program. The district will give participants $30,000 plus benefits for the one-year program, after which they'll commit to teaching at accelerated improvement schools at JCPS for at least five years.
Pollio told WDRB News that the district estimates spending $1.1 million per year on the program.
And if he has his druthers, the program eventually will be expanded to offer 100 slots instead of 30. That way, the district could stay in front of the teacher shortage problem, he said, adding that 98.5 percent of JCPS classrooms are filled.
"We want 100 percent, and that's what the goal of this is," he said. "My major concern is what's it going to be like 10 years from now? As students who have enrolled in postsecondary certification programs has declined significantly over the past 10 years, if it continues to decline how many vacancies are we going to have in 10 years? I worry that instead of 80 or 90 vacancies in a large district, there might be 1,000 vacancies.
"I really believe this is the type of work that has to happen in order to make sure that we mitigate that problem."
JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio discusses the Louisville Teacher Residency program during a Feb. 6, 2020, news conference at Price Elementary School.
People like Tyson Harbin hope to take advantage of the Louisville Teacher Residency program and successfully transition to a career in education.
Harbin, a 2004 graduate of Western High School, holds an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, but his interest in teaching was piqued after he began tutoring some of his classmates in engineering and math.
The financial support and the promise of a job from JCPS are especially appealing for him and his family.
So is the prospect of diversifying the teaching ranks at Kentucky's largest school district, which has a student population that is 37 percent black.
"When I was in school there were little to no African-American teachers in the classroom, and I found that it was important to relate to them," Harbin said during Thursday's news conference. "… I have somewhat of an advantage to basically relate to those students because I, too, have been through some of those experiences. I, too, have faced some of the issues and challenges that they are encountering now or have been through."
That's an important point for Kaarmel Eaves, a third-grade teacher at Semple Elementary.
"Kids when they see somebody that looks like them and has the same life experiences as them, it just matters to them," Eaves said after the press conference. "I think they relate better, and when you instruct them, they receive the information better."
Eaves said she wished the Louisville Teacher Residency program was available for her as she transitioned into teaching. A fifth-year teacher, she graduated from the district's now defunct 18-month Alternative Certification Elementary and Secondary, or ACES, program and is still working toward her master's degree.
"This is definitely a better program in that you get a master's degree at the end," she said. Teachers improve their ranks, and paychecks, by successfully completing graduate programs.
The residency program will cost about $17,000 in tuition, but Class Act Credit Union has pledged up to $300,000 over the next three years to provide $3,000 scholarships for participants.
State scholarships worth $10,000 are also available, said Sylena Fishback, director of the residency program.
"They are looking to diversifying the education force as well, so if you're a minority, if you're a first-generation college student, if you're military personnel, you're able to apply for this $10,000 scholarship as well," she said.
Fishback said the district is still working to identify three schools -- one elementary, one middle and one high -- as training sites for the program. Once those sites are determined, principals will identify possible master teachers to apply for the program, she said.
At most, teachers will take two participants as mentees, Fishback said.
She and Pollio are confident that those who successfully complete the one-year residency program and earn their teaching certifications will be ready to handle the rigors of running a classroom.
"They'll be embedded for a full year of authentic field experience," Fishback said.
"I don't know if there could be a much better preparation program than that," Pollio said. "Four days a week full-time every single day working with a master teacher in a classroom will definitely prepare teachers."
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