Schools, aspiring teachers put hopes in program

Wake develops homegrown source of teachers

Finding teachers is an annual headache in North Carolina that often involves going thousands of miles to recruit candidates.

But Wake County, which needs more than 1,000 teachers each year to keep up with growth and attrition, has started a program that aims to ease the problem by growing their own teachers.

Dubbed Teach-UP, the program gives school employees such as teacher assistants, guidance assistants and school secretaries with undergraduate degrees the chance to go back to school and get their teaching certificates. These are typically employees who have degrees, but have not met the requirements to get a teacher's license.

Funded by a $2 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the program covers most of the cost of tuition, books and the teaching exam.

The program is needed more than ever because of federal pressure, through the No Child Left Behind law, to fill classrooms with fully licensed teachers.

It falls under the U.S. Department of Education's Transition to Teaching program, which started in 2001 to combat teacher shortages across the country. In North Carolina, more than 10,000 new teachers are needed each year, state officials say.

Wake was the only school district in the Triangle to receive the federal funding. However, other Triangle school district's have similar programs.

For example, Johnston County, which hires 500 teachers each year, partners with East Carolina University and the N.C. Model Teacher Education Consortium. They work with school districts to help teacher assistants, office support staff and others become licensed teachers.

Durham schools have a partnership with Duke University and NCMTEC to help teacher assistants become fully licensed.

"We are always excited when we can hire someone right in our school system," said Robin Little, Johnston's executive director for human resources.

Wake's program is starting small -- the first group, which began in January, has 21 school employees, mostly teacher assistants -- so it will not meet the total need. But recruiters are grateful for whatever help they can get.

Wake is hoping the program will produce more than 125 fully licensed teachers over the next five years. As part of the program, the teachers will then teach in schools with a high number of low-income students.

No Child Left Behind calls on school districts to stock classrooms, particularly for core subjects such as English, math, foreign language and social studies, with teachers whom the law deems "highly qualified" -- that is, who have a state-issued license, hold a bachelor's degree and have passed a rigorous teaching exam.

"We look first for fully licensed teachers," Little said, "but many times they are not available."

Why look in-house?

Educators say these homegrown employees are critical to the profession because they have spent time in classrooms and have firsthand knowledge of the duties teachers juggle, such as lesson plans and parent conferences. Often the only thing that separates them from teaching is the license.

"It's a great idea. ... These are people who know the school and have a heart for teaching," said Jennifer Lanane, president of the Wake County chapter of the N.C. Association of Educators.

MaLena Evans, 52, a guidance assistant at West Millbrook, got her feet wet in the classroom as a teacher's assistant about three years ago. After seeing her child off to college, Evans said it was time for her to pursue her dream to be a teacher. She is part of Wake's Teach-UP program.

"This is a golden opportunity. When I see the needs of students, I see a need for dedicated teachers," said Evans.

The cost of going back to school is a hurdle for some school employees, such as Kathleen Noel Little, a teacher's assistant with Pleasant Union Elementary School. Little, 41, said she couldn't afford to quit her job to go back to school to get her license.

"This was an obvious route to become the teacher I know I'm meant to be," she said.

Sheila Bennett, who oversees the program for Wake, said it could cost between $5,000 and $8,000 to obtain a teaching license.

"What we're saying to them is that we value their experience, and we think they will be successful as teachers," Bennett said.

To get a license, teachers must not only have a college degree but must have taken certain education courses such as classroom management and special education. They must also pass the required teacher's exam.

Wake's program allows these employees to be guided through the often murky process of acquiring a teaching license. The employees meet with colleges to talk about their education programs. Current licensed teachers serve as mentors.

Program participants will be given top priority at local job fairs hosted by the school district.

Many of the participants have already started taking their classes at N.C. Wesleyan College's Morrisville campus. Wake has also partnered with N.C. State University, St. Augustine's College, Wake Technical Community College and Peace to offer classes for participants.