Errington celebrates Muncie Community Schools receiving grant to support educator pipeline
Muncie, Ind. – The Indiana Department of Education has announced Muncie Community Schools as one of the recipients of a $2.17 million grant, administered through Ball State University, to support the attraction and retention of state educators. The Attract, Prepare, Retain Grant aims to help schools and communities strengthen, expand and diversify the educator pipeline. State Rep. Sue Errington (D-Muncie) celebrated this announcement.
This grant will aid schools and educators in 29 Indiana counties. Recipients of the grant have demonstrated a commitment to supporting the professional development of local educators, including investing in strategies such as growing the number of opportunities for high school students and minority populations to pursue careers as educators.
“As a former educator, I'm glad we are starting to get serious about the increasing number of professionals leaving education,” Errington said. “It's pretty simple: Our kids are the future of our community and state, and to get them the quality education they deserve, we have to make education a profession worth pursuing. I want to give a big congratulations to Muncie Community Schools and Ball State today.”
Today, 2,812 school support positions are posted on the Indiana Department of Education's new online job board. Errington added that 1,562 of those open positions are in search of teachers.
Successful applications focused on increasing leadership and career advancement within the educator profession, as well as increasing opportunities for high school students and underrepresented populations to pursue careers as educators. This could include increasing:
- The number of opportunities for high school students to enter educator preparation programs with transferable post-secondary credits,
- Underrepresented populations among candidates enrolling in educator preparation programs,
- Opportunities for leadership and career advancement within the profession, and
- Opportunities for sharing information, practices and ideas among other educators.
A full list of the school districts and partners that are recipients of the Attract, Prepare, Retain Grant can be found here.