More Maryland college students are crowdfunding their tuition with the help of GoFundMe
Between paying for college and helping to support his family, Towson University junior Saydu Paye is spread thin.
For most of the summer, he didn’t think he could afford to go back to school this fall.
The 20-year-old information technology major from Sparrows Point turned to a GoFundMe fundraiser for relief from skyrocketing tuition and a limited pool of financial aid dollars.
“Hello all,” he wrote in his online plea. “I am scared over the pending situation, as I am not near my financial goal for the summer.”
Thousands of students like Paye have increasingly taken advantage of crowdsourcing platforms to help them cope with steady increases in tuition and fees in Maryland and across the country. According to the College Board, public four-year university tuition for in-state students increased on average about 3 percent per year over the past decade.
The number of education-related campaigns has increased each year since GoFundMe launched in 2010, said spokeswoman Heidi Hagberg. She said that more than $70 million a year has been raised on the platform for educational initiatives, with more than 100,000 annual fundraisers for causes ranging from teachers’ back-to-school drives to students’ college tuition.
Crowdsourcing experts say members of the postmillennial generation have taken to fundraising on such sites in part to avoid the plight of their predecessors.
“Watching our generation deal with students loans … It’s daunting. It can stay with you for 30 years,” said Kamni Gupta, 31, a former executive for the DreamFund.com fundraising and savings platform. “The internet has really opened up the door for them so that they don’t necessarily have to live with student loans.”
GoFundMe hosted twice as many campaigns in 2017 as in the previous year related to college tuition in Maryland, Hagberg said in an email. And according to GoFundMe data from the 2016-2017 academic year, the most recent available, about $1.5 million was raised for Marylanders’ educational purposes in roughly 3,200 campaigns.
One such fundraiser was created by Melissa Terry of Silver Spring, a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park, who raised over $1,400 starting in November 2017.
Like Paye, she pays for college on her own, at times balancing multiple jobs with classes and internships. Without a cosigner, she doesn’t qualify for many loans, and pays for school with her salary and financial aid.
She was hesitant about using GoFundMe for tuition at first because she thought of it as a place to raise money for emergencies. But, with some coaxing from her friends, she decided to give it a try.
Ultimately, her campaign brought more than financial rewards.
“You feel alone and that you’re the only person going through this situation,” Terry, 24, said. “But then you realize all these people want to help you, and you don’t feel as alone anymore.”
Ju Fang Tseng of Silver Spring donated to Terry after learning about her from a friend on Facebook who shared a link to Terry’s GoFundMe page. Even though Tseng doesn’t know Terry, she said she felt compelled to contribute.
“I thought, ‘If everyone just donated a little bit, we could help this girl,’ ” Tseng said. “I know college is really a lot, and someone who reaches the college level should finish it.”
Martaze Gaines, a Morehouse College graduate from Baltimore, said the decision to attend the private university in Atlanta initially daunted him and his mother. But four years later, with the help of his online campaign, he’s graduated and is pursuing a master’s degree at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. He says his mother is thrilled.
“The extra money is definitely a big help,” Gaines said, adding that he’s keeping the fundraiser active. “Even if I don’t make my complete goal, at least it will be something.”
John Quelch, dean of the University of Miami business school and an expert in consumer behavior, said widespread acknowledgement of the onerous nature of paying for college motivates many students to feel comfortable publicizing their need.
“People donating and seeking funds understand that student loan money is limited and the interest burden can be high,” he said. “It’s more kosher to put out the hat for something like this.”
Despite surging costs, more U.S. students are attending college. Between 2000 and 2016, enrollment at four-year institutions increased by about 25 percent. Meanwhile, state funding has decreased overall, meaning universities depend more on tuition revenue than in the past.
In 2018, Maryland lawmakers sought to provide relief for students in the form of legislation that offers tuition-free community college to thousands of state residents. And starting this year, more than 500 Baltimore public school students will attend community college for free as part of Baltimore’s “last-dollar scholarship program,” which funds a portion of their tuition not already covered by federal Pell Grants.
Before the advent of the internet, Quelch said, communities would often help needy students close the gaps. He said that when that failed, many put college on hold and found work that did not require an advanced degree.
Today, with greater emphasis placed on college education, financially burdened students can find resources online.
“If you have a very compelling story that requires funding to close the access gap, there’s an audience for that message,” Quelch said. “Our lives have become more global and less local, and advent of the internet is allowing communities to be supportive of your efforts outside of your immediate circle.”
Paye sought to set himself apart with a photo of himself on campus, a catchy headline on his post (“Resident Assistant might lose job!”) and a description of what he does to help his extended family in Liberia.
Towson University alumni and fellow students, several of whom he hasn’t met, donated to Paye’s GoFundMe campaign. However, he has received less than $500 out of a $9,500 goal from his fundraiser.
Relatives and members of his church helped him close the gap and get back to school this fall, just in time. Though he’s not accustomed to asking for help, he considers himself lucky.
He writes to each online donor.
“I haven’t crossed paths with you often, but the fact that you want to see me prosper … was monumental to me,” he wrote in one thank-you note.
[Read more at the Baltimore Sun]Growing a Portfolio of EPSOs
Preparing students to earn a postsecondary credential and have a high-quality career requires a wide range of experiences, including providing students opportunities to earn college credit, an industry certification, or both while they are in high school. But how can we set students up to reach their goals? One clear way is by offering a portfolio of early postsecondary opportunities, or EPSOs. In Tennessee, schools have the opportunity to offer eight different EPSOs to students, and educators across the state are growing their portfolio of EPSOs to meet the needs of all students. Let’s take a look and see how it’s done from two rural Tennessee districts.
Greg Scott, principal at Milan High School, wants to make sure his students have a “leg up” on their peers when they graduate; that’s why he and the rest of his staff are committed to ensuring every student has access to EPSOs. He explains, “Our strategy at Milan High School is that every student leaves here with a diploma and a plan.” Part of that plan means making sure students have opportunities to earn and articulate credit at postsecondary institutions or earn an industry certification that will allow them to begin a career in an in-demand field. For instance, Milan High School has become a testing facility for the Certified Nursing Assistant certification to meet the needs of the growing healthcare industry in northwest Tennessee.
Increasing enrollment in EPSOs is not a job for one person, however. Greg credits the almost 20% jump in EPSO enrollment to teachers “being willing to provide opportunities,” and collaboration with industry leaders who are “thirsty” to promote industry certifications. But what was the biggest sell in creating community buy-in? Aligning EPSOs to the growing career fields in his community. Here’s one example: Recently, Tyson Foods announced it will build a new facility in a neighboring county, and the company needs more workers skilled in industrial maintenance. In collaboration with TCAT Jackson, Milan High School is now offering two industry certifications through a dual enrollment partnership. Greg challenges district’s to consider their student body. Use patterns in postsecondary enrollment and job placement to, “figure out what [students] need and…exhaust every resource to provide it.”
Meanwhile in southeast Tennessee, Clint Baker has made it his mission to offer a portfolio of early postsecondary opportunities to students in Meigs County. Although many in his community live in poverty, Baker has been able to increase EPSO enrollment by 18% through one key tactic: communication. He explains, “We try to get the word out early and often about the different opportunities we can offer students.” But that means more than explaining what EPSOs are and what classes Meigs County High School offers. Instead, it means linking EPSOs to tangible benefits: increasing ACT scores and reducing the cost of college.
Students at Meigs County High School do have challenges felt by many across the state. Almost 60% of students are economically disadvantaged; meaning many of them can’t afford expensive exam or enrollment costs. Baker notes his school board, community, and parents have been key in providing opportunities to connect students with grants to ensure they have access to EPSOs, and many students are eligible for fee waivers and support from EPSO vendors, as well. His results show this is working. The 123 graduates at Meigs County High School earned 625 credit hours last year.
As we continue to celebrate EPSO Week, take a few moments and consider how your district and school could implement practices like these to provide more EPSOs to your students. Setting students up for success requires the work of industry, community, and school leaders.
Former Nashville public schools administrator to lead city’s education foundation
A former Nashville public schools human resources administrator will soon lead the city’s public education foundation.
Katie Cour will head the Nashville Public Education Foundation as president and CEO on Nov. 12 after a nationwide search, according to a news release. She will replace outgoing NPEF President and CEO Shannon Hunt.
Board members called Cour’s appointment an opportunity to bring a fresh approach to continue to drive progress forward.
“With her deep background and expertise in education on both the local and national levels, we believe that Katie truly sees Nashville’s needs and potential and that her leadership will take the Foundation to new heights,” said Wanda Lyle, NPEF board chairwoman, in the news release.
Cour is the former Metro Nashville Public Schools executive director for talent strategy and was a key architect during her times that led to plans for teacher recruitment and retention.
After leaving the district in 2016, she ran her consulting company, Cour Consulting, through which she advised several state education departments, as well as the Public Education Foundation of Chattanooga and the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C., according to the news release.
[Read more at The Tennessean] Read MoreWe followed 15 of America’s teachers on a day of frustrations, pressures and hard-earned victories
It’s shortly after dawn when Edward Lawson, one of America’s 3.2 million public school teachers, pulls his car into the parking lot of Julian Thomas Elementary in Racine, Wisconsin. He cuts the engine, pulls out his cell phone and calls his principal. They begin to pray.
Lawson is a full-time substitute based at a school with full-time problems: only one in 10 students are proficient in reading and math.
That may be explained by the fact that 87 percent of the students are poor and one in five have a diagnosed disability. Blame for test scores, however, often settles on the people who are any school’s single-most-important influence on academic achievement – teachers.
Lawson says a prayer for the coming school day. He says a prayer for the district, the students, the upcoming state tests. He says a prayer for the second-grade teacher who had emergency back surgery and for the sub taking her class.
He says a prayer for all teachers – a fitting petition for a profession in crisis.
The crisis became manifest this spring when teachers in six states, sometimes even without the direction or encouragement of any union, walked off the job to protest their own compensation and school spending in general.
We think we know teachers; we’ve all had them. But the suddenness and vehemence of the Teacher Spring suggest we don’t understand their pressures and frustrations.
To try to understand, 15 teams of USA TODAY NETWORK journalists spent Monday, Sept. 17, with teachers around the nation.
We found that teachers are worried about more than money. They feel misunderstood, unheard and, above all, disrespected.
That disrespect comes from many sources: parents who are uninvolved or too involved; government mandates that dictate how, and to what measures, teachers must teach; state school budgets that have never recovered from Great Recession cuts, leading to inadequately prepared teachers and inadequately supplied classrooms.
It all may be exacting a toll. This year, for the first time since pollsters started asking a half-century ago, a majority of Americans said they would not want their child to become a teacher.
Yet teachers everywhere say that if only the American people – the parent, the voter, the politician, the philanthropist – really understood schools and teachers, they’d join their cause.
Some people mistakenly think teachers “sit around all summer, collecting a paycheck,’’ complains Lawson, the full-time substitute. Not him. In addition to working in both the before- and after-school programs, he teaches summer school and last summer took on extra hours at an Amazon warehouse.
Lawson is a jack of all trades. A walkie-talkie on his hip, he moves from room to room — teaching a class or organizing a lesson plan for a short-term sub or giving students special help with math. He visits homes with the school social worker. He directs traffic in the parking lot. He once used the washing machine in his office to clean the coats of an entire class so he wouldn’t embarrass the one kid whose coat was filthy.
Despite it all – or maybe because of it – he voices a claim made by virtually every teacher with whom a USA TODAY NETWORK team spent the day: He loves his job. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. When you help a kid that really wants to learn, when they say, ‘I got it,’ that’s something you take with you the rest of your life.”
A crisis in perspective
Public school teachers’ economic prospects have worsened dramatically since the beginning of the Great Recession, especially in poorer states.
The average national salary has decreased by more than 4 percent since 2009, adjusted for inflation. Yet nine in 10 teachers buy some of their own teaching supplies, spending an average of almost $500 a year.
About 18 percent have a second job, making teachers about five times more likely than the average full-time worker to have a part-time job.
No surprise, then, that 8 percent of teachers leave the profession each year, compared with 5 percent a few decades ago; that 20 to 30 percent of all beginning teachers leave within five years, the Learning Policy Institute says, and two-thirds of teachers quit before retirement; that enrollment in college teacher education programs dropped 35 percent between 2009 and 2014.
The result, in some areas and in some specialties, is a teacher shortage. Last year, according to a Learning Policy Institute study, more than 100,000 classrooms were staffed by instructors “not fully qualified to teach’’ because they lacked proper licenses or degrees. The percentage of teachers working without bachelor’s degrees, although small (2.4 percent in 2016), has more than doubled since 2004.
Those are the numbers, based on federal education data. Here are scenes from the lives of teachers, before, during and after school.
ARRIVALS: Hope and heartbreak
The sun is rising, and teachers are arriving. “Ordinary men and women,” as educational reformer John Dewey put it, of whom we expect the extraordinary.
In a remote valley in central Montana, on a cool, clear morning with the promise of autumn and a hint of the hard winter to come, there’s a scene from teaching’s past: A solitary woman approaches a gray clapboard, one-classroom schoolhouse and unlocks the door.
Instead of lighting the stove, like her 19th-century predecessors, Traci Manseau makes sure the internet is up.
The public school has 17 students from prekindergarten to eighth grade, up from a total of three when Manseau came here 19 years ago. Montana has less than 80 such schools; about 20 closed in the past decade. Most young teachers don’t want to live in such remote areas.
And it’s hard work, Manseau says, to wrap your brain around first- and eighth-grade math at the same time.
Each of her students comes from one of five families, all surnamed Stahl. They’re Hutterites, a religious sect that speaks a German dialect and shuns modern ways. The students wear a sort of 19th-century uniform: the girls in black headscarves with subtle polka dots and modest dresses, their hair parted in the middle and twisted behind their ears. The boys wear Western shirts, black pants and suspenders.
To work on the small Hutterite colony’s communal farm, students leave school when they turn 16.
Even in this idyllic setting, teaching comes with its own little heartbreak.
A half-continent away, another teacher approaches another school. This one is a vision of neoclassical elegance modeled on the University of Virginia’s Rotunda.
Walnut Hills High School, which sits on a 14-acre campus, is the top-rated public high school in Ohio. Its trademark subject is Latin, required in grades seven through nine. Its motto is “Sursum ad summum” – “Rise to the Highest.”
The classical college preparatory school is another American educational archetype. But here, time has not stood still. Just ask the teacher at the door.
Laura Wasem, 43, has taught Latin here for 17 years. She makes an annual salary of $77,000, a third more than the average American teacher. Yet she is as nostalgic for the past as any Hutterite.
Today, for example, she’s distressed that there will be no classes because of a daylong professional development program to improve standardized test scores.
“All these mandates from the administration and the state are just an extension of what’s going on nationally,” she says. She blames “people without a background in education … who have no idea what to expect walking into a class of eighth-graders. They are used to walking into business meetings … It’s completely different when you have to keep an eye out for kids using phones or redirecting a child with a special-education plan or registering if what you are saying is actually being understood.”
She’s just getting started: “I used to be able to teach Latin and not have to worry about all the testing and extra work centering around our evaluations.” That was long ago.
Felecia Branch, 51, arrives at Mackenzie Elementary-Middle School an hour before classes begin. She’s a product of Detroit city schools and has taught in them for 25 years.
Branch pops the trunk of her gray Jeep Compass and pulls out a big, gray-blue rolling crate with materials for the day’s classes.
Her self-sufficiency is a reminder of the district’s troubles, including the near-decade it was under state control. Teachers went for years without a raise; their base pay was cut, and many dipped into their own pockets for basic supplies.
Three years ago, Branch says, “I didn’t have any sixth-grade materials. None.” She says she bought them herself – and did a lot of photocopying.
A new superintendent is trying to reverse course. Last year, teachers finally got a raise: 7 percent over two years, plus bonuses for those near or at top scale. This year, for the first time in years, Branch has almost all the materials she needs.
After a two-minute drive from home, Christine McFarland pulls up at Sinton Elementary School, where today teachers are wearing the paraphernalia of their alma mater.
The 45-year-old English and social studies teacher sports a jacket from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, of which she’s a proud 2001 graduate.
The jacket is also a reminder that, despite her $50,000 annual teacher’s salary and a second job as a supermarket cashier, she long has been delinquent on the $300-a-month payments on her 30-year student loan, leaving a debt in the high five digits.
“We’re not making a living wage. Teachers, especially single teachers trying to live off our salary, are going paycheck to paycheck,” she says. “I make enough for basics – bills, groceries – and that’s it. No extra money for anything else, like getting my nails done or buying new clothes.”
She’s a single mother. Three years ago, one of her two kids qualified for reduced-price school lunches. “I’m a teacher. And I qualified for reduced lunch. What does that say?”
It says she’s thinking about leaving her calling.
As Rebecca Garelli drives up to Sevilla Elementary School-West, her Nissan sedan’s stickers make the car look like a political billboard: “#StillInvested … #RedForEd …. #EdWave2018 … #RememberInNovember”
In March, this 37-year-old middle school science teacher started a Facebook page that helped spark the teachers’ uprising in the state. Today, her tank top is bright red – the movement’s signature color. At home she has a drawer of red shirts, a couple of red blouses and a red dress.
She’s driven an hour from her home at the other corner of the metropolitan area. Her long commute helps explain her activism.
Her family moved here from Chicago two years ago for the Southwestern lifestyle. When she interviewed for teaching jobs, she was startled: “On average, I was going to take a $35,000 pay cut.”
So she took a relatively well-paying job a relatively long way from home in a school with relatively large class sizes.
And it’s exhausting her.
ABSENT: Teachers who aren’t teaching
Some teachers are not teaching on this day, for reasons that underlie the profession’s crisis.
Halston Drennan, 32, is in class at the University of Wyoming, where he’s pursuing a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He resigned at the end of the past school year as a high school math teacher in Fort Collins, Colorado, where after three years, he was making $39,000. He loved teaching but realized he’d never be able to afford to buy a home. Unless, his mother told him, “you marry up.”
Amber Ball, 26, is driving back to Columbia, a tiny town (pop. 390) in northeast Louisiana where she teaches junior high language arts. No school today – her financially strapped district is on a four-day week to save money. That’s good, because she gets a three-day weekend. And it’s bad, because she takes home just $2,300 a month, even though she has a master’s degree.
Luis Martinez, 35, is not teaching his two Spanish classes today at West Shores High in Salton City, California. He arrived at the remote desert school to find that a security officer was out and that he had to take his place. He’s frustrated. In such cases, “We’re supposed to have a plan.” Now he has to arrange a sub for his own classes.
[Story continues on USA Today]TDOE Announces Nine Educators Named to the Inaugural Tennessee Teacher Ambassador Network
Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced today that nine educators have been selected to participate in the inaugural Tennessee Teacher Ambassador Network (TTAN) during the 2018-19 school year. The TTAN is a unique opportunity for teachers to advise and be embedded in the work of the Department of Education without asking them to leave the classroom.
As part of the TTAN, each teacher ambassador will be partnered with specific division leaders within the department based on interest and expertise so that they can learn deeply about key state-level work, share their experiences with these leaders to inform policy and practice, and be equipped to share state level communications with their peers. The goal is that this network will improve educational outcomes by ensuring the department continues to improve in leading teacher-informed work while providing more opportunities for educators to grow as teacher leaders.
“This new opportunity for our educators benefits both the leaders at the state and the teachers themselves,” McQueen said. “Unlike other fellowships, this experience ensures teachers are completely embedded in critical areas of our work so we can improve to better serve our students.”
All educators participating in the TTAN came highly recommended and were selected to be ambassadors through a competitive application process. In addition to the requirement of being current educators in Tennessee public schools with at least three years of experience, applicants were selected based on their individual impact on student outcomes and school success, leadership, insight based on school experience, communication skills, and capacity for the work of the network, including project management. Applications were rated based on their responses to questions addressing these areas; finalists participated in an additional interview component.
The educators chosen to be a part of the TTAN teach in a variety of subjects and grade levels, while also representing all three grand divisions of the state and eight school districts. The nine members of the TTAN are:
- Misty Ayres-Miranda, Metro Nashville Public Schools
- Diane Barber Miller, Franklin Special School District
- Rachel Bearden, Gibson County Special School District
- Michelle Biggs, Shelby County Schools
- Candace Hines, Achievement School District
- Jessica Hubbuch, Hamilton County Department of Education
- Haley Ottinger, Jefferson County Schools
- Deanna Pickel, Oak Ridge Schools
- Mark Wittman, Shelby County Schools
While experiences will be differentiated according to division needs, all Teacher Ambassadors will spend time in-person at the department to learn from and advise division leaders, engage in communication activities for key Tennessee education priorities, and work with teachers and schools in the field to share relevant, factual information about state practices. Divisions that will be partnering with Teacher Ambassadors for the 2018-19 school year include:
- College, Career, and Technical Education (which includes early postsecondary opportunities like AP and dual enrollment)
- Data and Research
- School Improvement
- Teachers and Leaders (which includes student growth portfolios and TEAM evaluation)
- Special Populations (special education)
- Teaching and Learning (early literacy, early learning, and RTI2)
Governor Bill Haslam and Commissioner McQueen have prioritized and invested in teacher voice and engagement over the past several years by initiating opportunities such as the Governor’s Teachers Cabinet, the Hope Street Group Fellows, and the expanded Teacher Advisory Council in addition to supporting teacher leader networks in districts across the state and 31 new TNReady Ambassadors. The Tennessee Teacher Ambassador Network is another example of the state’s investment in teacher leadership to drive high-quality practice and implementation.
[Read more at TN Department of Education] Read MoreIt’s not just the governor’s race. Here’s what Tennessee’s big legislative turnover could mean for education
The battle to replace term-limited Gov. Bill Haslam has consumed the spotlight for Tennessee’s education-minded voters, but more than a hundred legislative races will decide who the new governor will work with on school policy for the next few years.
In addition to either Democrat Karl Dean or Republican Bill Lee as the state’s new chief executive, at least a fourth of the General Assembly’s members will be new to Capitol Hill in January. That’s because of an unusually high number of legislative departures, due mostly to retirements or the pursuit of other government jobs.
Incumbents aren’t running to fill 25 out of 99 seats in the House of Representatives and six out of 33 seats in the Senate — setting the stage for the biggest turnover since at least 1995, according to legislative librarian Eddie Weeks.
Among those opting against re-election bids are the leaders of three of four House education panels — Harry Brooks, John Forgety, and Roger Kane — all East Tennessee Republicans who have wielded considerable power in controlling the flow of bills in their committees or subcommittee. The fourth chairman, Rep. Mark White of Memphis, has been in office since 2010 and faces Democrat Danielle Schonbaum on Election Day on Nov. 6.
“It’s like getting Jupiter, Mars, the Earth, and the sun all lined up at the same time. It’s a ton of change,” said Kane of getting a new governor, a new education commissioner, and a critical mass of freshman legislators, in addition to administrative staff turnover.
At stake is whether Tennessee will stay the course on a massive school improvement plan launched in 2010 under former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen and continued since 2011 by the current Republican governor. The overhaul, spurred by Tennessee’s $500 million federal Race to the Top award, is grounded in higher academic standards; a new test to measure student growth and proficiency based on those new standards; and policies that hold students, teachers, and schools accountable for results.
The years since the overhaul have coincided with student gains on national tests, but also major headaches in administering the state test known as TNReady, now entering its fourth year. Technical glitches disrupted two years of giving the new computerized assessment, while scoring and score delivery problems marred another year.
“I hope we don’t try to reinvent the wheel,” said Rep. John DeBerry, a Democrat and education committee member who is running unopposed in his Memphis district. “We’ve laid a very good foundation that’s been proven by a lot of measurable factors.”
Kane, who serves on the other side of the aisle, agrees.
“I worry that you could see a total change in philosophy and literally everything we have done the last 10 years could become unwound,” he said. “When you have people coming in who are totally against any kind of testing but the ACT, as well as people who want to test everything, that’s a wide disparity.”
Both gubernatorial candidates want to take a closer look at testing, but the next General Assembly will have a lot to say about steps moving forward.
“We’re the ones who pass the laws,” said DeBerry. “The governor has tremendous influence, but he doesn’t cast votes either in committee or on the floor.”
Still, uncertainty about legislative turnover, especially in the House, was on the minds of members of the State Board of Education on Thursday as they discussed how to make TNReady work better this school year, as opposed to just gutting the test and starting over.
“That’s the big unknown at this point that quite honestly nobody has control over,” said Wayne Miller, the former state superintendents chief whom Haslam recruited to facilitate his recent statewide listening tour on testing.
“If we start to slide off track, it will be important for this group and others to speak loudly that this is not where we want to go,” Miller told the board.
A lot will depend on new legislative leadership, especially in the House which, like the Senate, has a lopsided majority of Republicans that likely won’t change significantly.
The speaker of the House decides committee appointments, both for membership and leadership, but that job is up for grabs too due to the exit of Nashville Republican Beth Harwell after her unsuccessful bid for governor. The Republican caucus is scheduled to elect a new speaker on Nov. 20, and candidates thus far are Reps. Glen Casada of Franklin, David Hawk of Greeneville, and Curtis Johnson of Clarksville.
The next speaker is expected to maintain Harwell’s two-committee system for education legislation because of the large number of bills on K-12 and higher education. Kane said the system has worked well.
“Last year there were 400 education bills alone,” Kane said. “That number would be grueling for one committee in the House. We have more members than the Senate committee and therefore more discussion.”
The Senate is less likely to see any kind of fruit basket turnover, and Dolores Gresham is expected to continue chairing her chamber’s education committee. The Somerville Republican has served in the legislature since 2002 and is not up for reelection this year.
But the huge turnover in the House will mean a significant loss of institutional knowledge on education policy. At the same time, the handoff presents an opportunity to gain fresh and innovative ideas, according to Brooks, the powerful committee chairman who is retiring after 16 years in office.
“I’m not worried,” Brooks said. “This legislature has been around for over a hundred years, and it’s managed to pick up and go after huge shifts in the past. There’s a lot of quality people returning, and there will be a lot of good folks who are going to be elected.”
[Read more at Chalkbeat] Read MoreTDOE Announces Nine Educators Named to the Inaugural Tennessee Teacher Ambassador Network
Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced today that nine educators have been selected to participate in the inaugural Tennessee Teacher Ambassador Network (TTAN) during the 2018-19 school year. The TTAN is a unique opportunity for teachers to advise and be embedded in the work of the Department of Education without asking them to leave the classroom.
As part of the TTAN, each teacher ambassador will be partnered with specific division leaders within the department based on interest and expertise so that they can learn deeply about key state-level work, share their experiences with these leaders to inform policy and practice, and be equipped to share state level communications with their peers. The goal is that this network will improve educational outcomes by ensuring the department continues to improve in leading teacher-informed work while providing more opportunities for educators to grow as teacher leaders.
“This new opportunity for our educators benefits both the leaders at the state and the teachers themselves,” McQueen said. “Unlike other fellowships, this experience ensures teachers are completely embedded in critical areas of our work so we can improve to better serve our students.”
All educators participating in the TTAN came highly recommended and were selected to be ambassadors through a competitive application process. In addition to the requirement of being current educators in Tennessee public schools with at least three years of experience, applicants were selected based on their individual impact on student outcomes and school success, leadership, insight based on school experience, communication skills, and capacity for the work of the network, including project management. Applications were rated based on their responses to questions addressing these areas; finalists participated in an additional interview component.
The educators chosen to be a part of the TTAN teach in a variety of subjects and grade levels, while also representing all three grand divisions of the state and eight school districts. The nine members of the TTAN are:
- Misty Ayres-Miranda, Metro Nashville Public Schools
- Diane Barber Miller, Franklin Special School District
- Rachel Bearden, Gibson County Special School District
- Michelle Biggs, Shelby County Schools
- Candace Hines, Achievement School District
- Jessica Hubbuch, Hamilton County Department of Education
- Haley Ottinger, Jefferson County Schools
- Deanna Pickel, Oak Ridge Schools
- Mark Wittman, Shelby County Schools
While experiences will be differentiated according to division needs, all Teacher Ambassadors will spend time in-person at the department to learn from and advise division leaders, engage in communication activities for key Tennessee education priorities, and work with teachers and schools in the field to share relevant, factual information about state practices. Divisions that will be partnering with Teacher Ambassadors for the 2018-19 school year include:
- College, Career, and Technical Education (which includes early postsecondary opportunities like AP and dual enrollment)
- Data and Research
- School Improvement
- Teachers and Leaders (which includes student growth portfolios and TEAM evaluation)
- Special Populations (special education)
- Teaching and Learning (early literacy, early learning, and RTI2)
Governor Bill Haslam and Commissioner McQueen have prioritized and invested in teacher voice and engagement over the past several years by initiating opportunities such as the Governor’s Teachers Cabinet, the Hope Street Group Fellows, and the expanded Teacher Advisory Council in addition to supporting teacher leader networks in districts across the state and 31 new TNReady Ambassadors. The Tennessee Teacher Ambassador Network is another example of the state’s investment in teacher leadership to drive high-quality practice and implementation.
For more information about the Tennessee Teacher Ambassador Network, contact Cathy Pressnell, director of educator engagement, at Cathy.Pressnell@tn.gov. For media inquiries, contact Sara Gast at (615) 532-6260 or Sara.Gast@tn.gov.
[Read more at Tennessee Department of Education] Read MoreColleges Partner With Housing Authorities to Combat Student Homelessness
Officials at Tacoma Community College knew they had a problem when they surveyed students four years ago and learned that nearly 100 of them reported being homeless or near homeless.
The survey underscored what, at the time, was becoming a crisis for the region. The IT boom in Seattle had driven demand for housing to accommodate new workers moving to the area. Rental housing costs and home sale prices shot up.
Residents priced out of the Seattle housing market were willing to pay for rentals about 40 miles south in Tacoma. Meanwhile, Tacoma property managers increased their prices and welcomed the demand from former Seattle residents who could afford the higher rates, said Marybeth McCarthy, who oversees the college’s student housing program.
“We had mass migration to Tacoma and Pierce County,” she said. “Tacoma rent went up and displaced people. Our folks that were struggling became homeless, and the City of Tacoma declared a state of emergency.”
The college administrators searched for ways to help students with housing problems and found a unique solution. They partnered with the Tacoma Housing Authority and started the College Housing Assistance Program in 2014.
The program provides federal rental assistance vouchers to students who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless because they can’t pay their rent and utilities. The program served about 50 students,76 percent of them with children, in the first year it started. It now provides vouchers for about 150 students annually.
Erica Anthony, 35, a sophomore and full-time student studying information technology, said the voucher helped her find stable housing in the Tacoma area. Before she applied for the program, she and her two children lived with family members in a small apartment.
“Trying to support all three of us and go to school was increasingly difficult,” Anthony said. “I struggled a little bit trying to find a place to accept the voucher, but once I did, it made it possible for us to move to a safe, clean and not dangerous place. It’s amazing what that does for your state of mind and ability to concentrate.”
The housing authority covers the costs of the voucher, which provides about half of the monthly price of a rental unit based on household size. The average monthly rental assistance from the housing authority is $460.29. Anthony said she gets a $570 monthly voucher and her rent is about $1,300 a month.
“Our job is not only to house people but to do it in a way that helps them and their children succeed,” said Michael Mirra, executive director of the Tacoma Housing Authority.
The College Housing Assistance Program is just one of 15 education projects the housing authority operates to help the public schools and colleges in the region succeed at graduating students, Mirra said. He noted that Tacoma educational institutions serve a large population of low-income students.
“Students who grow up deep in poverty bring challenges through the schoolhouse door, and the best-trained teacher cannot overcome those challenges on their own. Housing instability and homelessness are at the top of the list.”
Students in the voucher program must be enrolled in credit-bearing courses and maintain a 2.0 grade point average. They also must meet the housing authority’s eligibility standards for income and residency. Although part-time students can enroll in the program, they must become full-time by their third quarter in college.
The voucher is also available to students who are “near homeless,” which means they may be staying with relatives or friends, living in a motel temporarily, or have received an eviction notice from their current landlord.
McCarthy gets weekly updates of rental prices in the area through popular sites like Zillow. In the past month, one-bedroom apartments were priced at about $1,100 a month, she said. She gives every student who requests a voucher a list of rental properties that may accept them and the voucher.
“Rents are cooling now,” McCarthy said. “I’m seeing more studios for under $1,000. They may not be in the best locations, and that’s what gets tricky. Cheaper apartments are in places that don’t have bus routes, and then we get into a transportation crunch.”
Tacoma is one of many colleges across the country trying to help the neediest students reach graduation by removing housing and transportation barriers and other obstacles such as not having enough to eat. Tacoma Community College officials, along with those from City Colleges of Chicago and the Chicago Housing Authority, were among the more than 550 faculty, college presidents, foundations and students who attended the second annual Real College conference at Temple University in Philadelphia last month to address student poverty on campuses across the country.
“Our focus is to work with the residents we currently have and help them become self-sufficient by completing a degree,” said Cassie Lynn Brooks, an education specialist with the Chicago Housing Authority.
The housing authority partnership with City Colleges of Chicago, called Partners in Education, is slightly different from the one in Tacoma. The Chicago Housing Authority provides scholarships to housing authority residents to cover tuition, books and fees not covered by other state or federal aid.
Last year, 604 housing authority residents enrolled in the city’s two-year college system; 70 percent enrolled in an associate-degree program.
Brooks said many of the residents tried to attend college in the past but never completed.
The Chicago and Tacoma housing agencies can partner with their local community colleges thanks to their designations as Moving to Work authorities. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Moving to Work program allows 39 housing agencies across the country to use federal dollars to help residents find employment and become self-sufficient.
Mirra said the HUD program does not provide more funding to the agencies but allows them to be more flexible and innovative with the money they receive. In 2015, Congress approved 100 additional public housing agencies to receive the Moving to Work designation over the next seven years.
“We’re buying up apartment complexes around the campus and renting those units to homeless TCC students,” Mirra said. “We’re also contacting private owners of another complex to reserve units.”
But even with the voucher, there are other financial obligations, such as rental deposits and screening fees, that may hinder homeless students.
Anthony, the Tacoma student in the program, said that because she was using the voucher to rent an apartment, she wasn’t viewed as an “ideal applicant” by her landlord, and so her deposit was double the normal amount. Anthony sought additional help through the housing authority for a grant that partially covered her deposit.
McCarthy and the Tacoma housing authority have been in conversations with housing managers and are trying to find solutions to these problems. For example, they’ve asked housing managers to consider allowing students to hold off on paying a deposit and first month’s rent up front and instead let them make those payments based on when they’re awarded financial aid.
McCarthy said she’s also talking to students about how they’re going to pay the portion of their rent not covered by the voucher. Mirra said the housing authority does not fully cover the cost of rent for students in the program because not doing so allows more students to be served through the program.
These students are receiving federal financial aid and may receive the state’s need-based aid, which provides $1,200 a quarter, she said.
Some students end up not using the rent vouchers after receiving them because of other challenges in their lives.
As of August, 14 vouchers expired before students could lease housing, 16 students stopped attending the institution and three students had criminal histories that prevented them from signing a lease, according to Tacoma Community College data.
Students may not pass the rental property’s screening process or the property may not have passed inspection with the housing authority.
“One of the realizations and the hard truth is that the housing vouchers don’t solve homelessness,” McCarthy said. “About one-third to half of them end up using the vouchers effectively. We still have a large number of vouchers come back unused. So, we’re trying to address those barriers.”
Mirra said the housing authority is open to more partnerships with other colleges, but for now, they’re focused on the relationship with TCC and expanding it to provide immediate housing assistance to incarcerated students once they are released.
“We expect the other colleges would have a similar experience with a similar survey, so we are alert for what kind of partnerships would make sense for other colleges,” he said.
[Read more at Inside Higher Ed] Read MoreTennessee has a lot of early-career teachers, especially at schools with more students of color. Here’s why it matters.
This story is part of a partnership between Chalkbeat and the nonprofit investigative news organization ProPublica. Using federal data from Miseducation, an interactive database built by ProPublica, we are publishing a series of storiesexploring inequities in education at the local level.
Alexis Singleton is one of thousands of Tennessee teachers in their early years of teaching. She’s one of 14 new teachers at her Memphis elementary school, and she’s seen firsthand the effect high teacher turnover can have on students.
“My students are already asking me if I’m going to be here next year,” said Singleton, a fourth-grade reading teacher at Treadwell Elementary School. “We’re three months into the school year, and they’re scared already.”
Singleton’s students’ fear is founded: Tennessee has one of the highest proportions of early-career teachers of any state — and people who work in its schools say high turnover in schools like Treadwell is a major cause.
Nearly one in five Tennessee teachers were in their first or second year of teaching in the state during the 2015-16 school year, according to data that schools reported to the federal government. That figure was even higher for Memphis schools.
Shelby County Schools and Tennessee’s education department say they don’t track how many teachers are in their first or second year in the classroom. Schools report that information directly to the Office of Civil Rights, and school-level data was published in an interactive database newly compiled by ProPublica, a national media organization.
Those numbers matter because they mean that many Tennessee classrooms are filled with educators whose skills still have room to grow, as there’s strong evidence that educators improve with experience, especially during their first few years of teaching but even afterward.
That phenomenon affects students of color and students from low-income families the most. In schools with mostly students of color, almost half of teachers were inexperienced, compared with 8 percent of teachers in schools with few students of color, according to an analysis from the Learning Policy Institute.
One way to reduce schools’ need to rely so heavily on brand-new teachers is to get more teachers to stick around. Across the state but especially in Memphis, teacher training programs are increasingly making this the goal.
Alfred Hall knows the challenges of staffing schools in diverse and urban settings. He was a longtime educator in Memphis public schools – a district with more than 90 percent students of color – before becoming assistant dean in the College of Education at the University of Memphis.
“We realize there are specific needs that teacher candidates need support and preparation for if they are going to be successful, particularly in urban school environments,” Hall said. “Many of our teacher graduates are of a different race, cultural background, or economic status than the students they are serving. They have to be prepared to address issues of equity and social justice if they are going to be successful in their classrooms.”
And Hall added that the stakes are high to retain effective teachers in schools where students have the furthest to go academically – many of which are schools in Memphis with high percentages of students of color and students from low-income neighborhoods.
“I know it makes a difference for students to see themselves in their teachers.”
That describes Singleton, who lives and teaches in a neighborhood that is predominately Hispanic and black. Singleton’s mother is Mexican and her father is black.
She moved from California more than a year ago to join the Memphis Teacher Residency, a training program that asks participants to commit to teaching in Memphis for five years. Singleton co-taught with a mentor teacher the first year, and then took on her own classroom her second with additional mentorship support from the residency program.
“I still don’t have everything I need, but at least I have a year of watching, observing and doing before I took on a classroom on my own,” Singleton said. “I think a lot of people don’t realize how high-pressure the profession of teaching can be until you’re in it.”
The University of Memphis College of Education is seeing in their graduates the same thing Singleton is seeing in her school — a lot of new teachers don’t make it to their third year.
“If we get teachers through their third year, we see that they are more likely to sustain and stay in that field over longer periods of time,” Hall said. “We as a university are much more mindful now of our role in helping teachers reach that benchmark, especially our teachers going into urban school environments, where we know retention rates are lower.”
As a result, the University of Memphis launched a new partnership last year with two school districts in Memphis aimed at addressing the problem of retention, as well as teacher recruitment. As part of the partnership, Hall said, the university is establishing a mentorship program with retired teachers for College of Education graduates during their first years of teaching.
The university is also creating “learning communities” for graduates in their first or second years, where groups of new teachers will meet together outside of their schools to support and learn from one another.
“We want young teachers to share and realize that they are not doing this work in isolation,” Hall said. “We know that new teachers may be apprehensive about reaching out to others in their building for help, but we know that it’s very hard to stay in this profession if you are going through it alone.”
Tennessee’s largest teacher organization is also trying to keep young teachers in the classroom through new mentorship opportunities. Beth Brown, the new president of the Tennessee Education Association, said that one of her top priorities during her two-year term is recruiting and retaining early-career educators.
“We know the teaching profession in this state is constantly in churn as teachers leave the profession,” Brown said. “This is highly concerning to me, because I know that as a teacher, I got better every year. It’s like fine wine and cheese. It’s not that young teachers aren’t doing a good job, because that’s not what I’m saying. It’s that you get better with experience.”
Brown said she’s going to work closely with districts and encourage them to put more resources into mentorship programs.
“When an educator graduates from college and gets their first job, don’t throw them to the wolves and say good luck,” Brown said.
For Singleton, she said the mentorship from her coach at Treadwell Elementary and from her residency program has helped her immensely during the first few months of this school year. She also said she plans to stay long enough to shed the “inexperienced teacher” label.
“I feel genuinely called to this work,” she said. “There’s a lot of pressure in this job, and it’s the toughest thing I’ve done. But I live and work in this neighborhood. I believe in it. I guess I think, if I don’t do this work, then who is going to? That makes me want to stay.”
[Read more at Chalkbeat]No tech degree? No problem. Tech Council launches Apprenti program to meet Nashville’s demand for skilled employees
When Nashville’s new program to address demand for tech talent, Apprenti, launches in November, the class will be comprised of 15 Nashvillians seeking a new path to a highly paid field. They include a pharmacist from India, whose credentials didn’t translate in the U.S., a former robotics operator and a truck driver who wants a career closer to home.
While the goal is to help these individuals succeed in the tech field, the Nashville Technology Council’s Apprenti program initially was driven by employers’ needs across each sector in Middle Tennessee.
“The need for tech workers with tech skills spans far beyond a traditional technology company,” Nashville Tech Council CEO Brian Moyer said. “Every company in town is looking for that skill.”
Nashville is home to more than a dozen colleges, but in many cases, graduates of those schools studying technology are not sticking around once they are trained. At Vanderbilt University, recent graduates with tech skills flocked to Washington, California and New York to work for IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Facebook. Those states attracted 58 tech graduates; Tennessee kept 12. Among overall graduates, most stayed in Tennessee or moved to New York.
The trend is what local employers have observed for years and what has spurred them to embrace the Apprenti model which calls on them to offer year-long, paid apprenticeships to participants. The salaries are below market rate, but allow apprentices to be paid as they learn. If successful, employers will retain the workers they train, allowing them to shift resources to training instead of recruiting.
Nashville Apprenti participants will receive three to six months of classroom training at the Nashville Software School before they begin their apprenticeships. The courses are funded by the Nashville Technology Council’s foundation, not the students. They don’t receive a stipend though, so they must still cover living expenses.
Bringing the program to Nashville
In 2015, the Nashville Technology Council staff members met with nearly 100 local employers to determine which tech skills were most in need for new hires to be successful. What they kept hearing was that employers needed critical thinkers and problem solvers who worked well on a team and had a strong work ethic, not those possessing a certain software language. They were confident they could successfully train new hires if they had those characteristics, said Sandi Hoff, Nashville Technology Council chief of staff.
“’If you give me the right person, I can train them and make them the right employee,’” Hoff said, describing employers’ response. “How could we carve out a solution where we could identify people with the right aptitude, who had basic skills?”
Considering that question prompted the discovery of the Washington-based Apprenti program. Three years later, 12 Nashville companies are participating and 15 apprentices have been chosen from a pool of 350 people. Franklin-based IT firm 3-D Technology Group is among local companies participating and contributing financially to the program.
“A lot of our really successful (people) just needed an opportunity to get into IT,” 3-D CEO Chris Martinez said. “Long term, they can get trained and get higher paying jobs. It’s really what the program is all about… It helps out 3D and it helps out people looking to make that move.”
Apprenti, which will be lead by Kevin Harris at the Nashville Technology Council, will focus initially software development and will expand to network security and systems administration.
To become an apprentice, applicants must take a test that includes basic math, logic and emotional intelligence. If they meet a certain score, they are considered for the program. They then interview for the program and meet with partner employers before being matched with a company. Once they begin, they are matched with a mentor from that company.
What makes Apprenti different from other training programs underway is the highly vetted process, which is part of the council’s attempt to ensure success for all participants and employers, Hoff said.
“We try to ensure that anybody who gets into the program can be successful on the job,” Hoff said.
Making the process inclusive to a range of backgrounds is also a priority, Moyer said. The council has been reaching out to community organizations to ensure that veterans, females and underserved populations are aware of the program.
The first cohort begins training Nov. 2, and they will be on their job sites in January. In three years, Moyer said the council wants the program to be self-sustaining with employer partners covering the cost of training as well and to expand Apprenti beyond Nashville to other parts of the state.
“We fully expect to be running hundreds of apprenticeships,” Moyer said. “The need is there.”
The tech council is raising $1 million from private companies to offset costs in the program’s first three years and is in talks with the city and state for potential funding support, Hoff said.
Finding another trade
The median age for Apprenti is 31, higher than expected, Jennifer Carlson, executive director of Apprenti, said. The median income of those entering is $28,000 and more than half of the participants have a two-year or four-year degree. In Nashville, the average age of those applying is 35.
When the economic downturn hit a decade ago, many in their 20s experienced limited opportunities and wages during the recession and in its aftermath. Now, they are seeking a more lucrative trade, Carlson said.
“We have a lot of people, a full generation of people almost, who are locked into service industries jobs because, at the time, it was all they could get,” Carlson said. “Now there is no on-ramp for them to get back into a skilled position.”
Going back to school, when individuals may have families or other responsibilities, is unlikely. An apprenticeship provides a paid alternative to pursue the tech sector without getting another degree.
Participating employers pay a median salary of $51,000 to their apprentices through the Apprenti program. Eighty percent of graduates have so far stayed with their employer, and the median pay after the apprenticeship is $88,000.
In Tennessee, where there are less than 0.4 candidates per software developer job opening even though median wages are close $87,000, 70 percent higher than the state’s average income.
“This program helps to focus on the underemployed,” Moyer said. “It benefits on both sides. It helps to fill open positions but it also helps to improve the lives of people who are being bypassed and being overlooked.”
Expanding from Washington to Tennessee
Apprenti is modeled from an initiative launched in Washington state in 2016. Despite being home to Amazon, one of the world’s largest tech companies, there was not enough skilled workers to fill the number of tech-related positions in each sector.
With $4 million from the state, a group of officials developed the program with the intent of hiring those without a traditional tech background. A college degree is not required.
“It really is an attempt to home grow the talent in our own background to fill that void and start making investments in that talent domestically,” said Carlson. “You bring in skills that are applicable to our sector, but you don’t have to be proficient in a tech role walking in the door. We skill you up, based on an employers’ need.”
Apprenti sought to standardize the skills and credentials it was teaching so the program was relevant to employers regardless of sector and city. The program also prioritizes building a diverse talent pool and puts an emphasis on reaching out to various community groups to cull interest.
Apprenti in Washington has just graduated its second class after participants completed a year of on-the-job training. Twenty-seven cohorts are underway nationally, in Washington, Virginia, Oregon, Illinois, Texas, Georgia and Tennessee.
How to participate in Apprenti:
https://technologycouncil.com/apprentitn/
Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.
Tech jobs in Tennessee
Software developers, apps : 0.38 candidates per job opening, median wage: $87,890
Software developers, systems: 0.31 candidates per opening, median wage: $86,890
Vanderbilt graduate data from August 2016 – May 2017:
- All graduates staying in Tennessee: 157
- Tech graduates staying in Tennessee: 12
- Tech graduates moving to New York: 20
- Tech graduates moving to California: 19
- Tech graduates moving to Washington: 19
