The Trump administration’s cuts to teacher training grants put a strain on the rural school system. Lack of teachers.
In an overhaul at the agency, President Donald Trump said he is being permeated by the “. Extremists, enthusiasts, Marxiststhe education department cut $600 million in grants to training programs last month. Divorce ideology. Trump says he wants to close the department, and how did new education secretary Linda McMahon lay out it? Can be dismantled.
Sharon Contreras, CEO of Innovation Project, a collaboration between North Carolina school districts, says federal funding accounts for a significant portion of several rural areas. The grant to that group helped recruit and retain teachers, and provided scholarships to teachers pursuing a master’s degree if they agreed to return to the community and serve as principal for three years.
“These districts are struggling to attract teachers,” Contreras said. “They are struggling to attract principals because they can’t compete with large districts.”
Nationally, grants provided student teachers with classroom experience, winning ambitious scholarships, and sending teachers to workshops to learn from peers. As recipients rush to sue the cut, many say there could be fewer well-prepared teachers in the classroom, especially in subject areas and areas that are already struggling with shortages.
“I think what’s unclear at this point is how many individuals are still educated, the number of people who just disrupt the scholarship,” said Kathlene Campbell, CEO of the National Teacher Residency Centre.
On Monday, the Teacher Residency Center and the American Teacher Education Association filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse the grant termination. Cut said it illegally targeted several grant programs approved by Congress.
The Education Department did not respond to requests for comment.
As Trump pursues his plans Dismantling the education departmentElon Musk’s government efficiency has already been reduced Many contracts It was rejected in vainly as “wake up,” and the government Fired or suspended Employee score.
Last month, the education department wrote to more than 100 grantors at universities and districts saying that teacher training programs were cut off because of involvement. Diversity, equity, and inclusion More initiative than violating Trump administration’s leadership. In a news release, the programme promoted what is called inappropriate topics, such as critical racial theory, social justice activities and white privilege guidance.
Grant recipients rejected the notion that their work was related to DEI.
In rural South Carolina, one of the grants provided the Lawrence 55 School District $13.5 million over three years. Using the money, they created 18 master teacher positions when students’ test scores rose, trained teachers and paid bonuses.
The program did not include race-based employment or teacher training, said Jody Penland, Principal of Lawrence 55.
“I think there was a priority that was included in the ‘diversity’ grant,” Penland said. “And as you know, we’ve said, ‘How are we going to serve all our children?”
In New Orleans, the Noraseed program used grant money to help candidates pay tuition at Tulane University. The partner organization considered recruiting local high school students to take university referral courses and teaching careers to address teacher shortages.
With another grant, teacher Brian Grindrod of New Haven, Connecticut is working with educators in the Northeast to engage students in our people, a civic education program that culminates in mock council hearings. When he received an email telling him he had to finish his job, he said he was mad.
“This is struck by the core of what education is,” Grindrod said.
Grindrod said the civic curriculum he worked with with his teachers was nonpartisan, focusing on the history and framework of American constitutional democracy. The training, he said, will help teachers engage students and apply civic education to real life.
“This is a curriculum that examines all aspects of the issue from a constitutional standpoint,” he said. “This allows students to develop critical thinking skills to see all perspectives in the discussion and examine how some arguments from the Federalists relate today.”
One of Grindrod’s own classes traveled to mock the Congressional Conference at Yale University, competing with some of the state’s most funded districts, earning honorable mentions.
Junior Alex Walker said it would mean a lot to him to go to Yale and catch up with other students. He said, “It’s probably the best history class I’ve ever tried to photograph in high school.”
Without the grant, Grindrod said he wasn’t sure if he could help other teachers give their classes to the same experience.
“Students are always people who are losing,” Grindrod said.
___
Post-and-Courier Anna Mitchell contributed to this report.
___
Associated Press Education Compensation receives financial support from several private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP standard For charity, list of ap.org supporters and funded compensation areas.
Source link
