CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – The Chicago Public Schools have launched a new partnership designed to encourage and assist CPS students to eventually become teachers in the system, which will help increase diversity of CPS teachers.
The program is called “Teach Chicago Tomorrow,” an innovative plan to build a new pipeline of talented, diverse teachers by creating a structured pathway with intensive supports for CPS graduates who want to be educators.
CPS hires approximately 140 CPS graduates as teachers per year, and through Teach Chicago Tomorrow the district is setting a long-term goal to triple the number of CPS grads hired annually to more than 500. Based on current trends, most of those new homegrown teachers will be African American or Latinx.
Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson said a more diverse teaching staff in the schools will be beneficial to all, "but for students of color in particular, having a teacher of the same race or ethnicity has a lasting impact on them. It impacts their attendance rate, their test scores, as well as their graduation success."
According to CPS, approximately 50 percent of the teacher workforce is white while more than 80 percent of students are African American and Latinx.
"Teach Chicago Tomorrow will build a new network of teachers who look like Chicago kids, come from Chicago communities, and are invested in Chicago neighborhoods,” said Mayor Lightfoot, in a statement. “This is a top priority for our schools and underscores our deep commitment to equity across the district. Although CPS has been working diligently to boost the number of African American and Latinx teachers, there is still a wide gap between the race and ethnicity of students and teachers, as existing recruitment pathways simply aren’t producing enough high-quality teachers of color. We must build our own pathways through smart strategies that tap into an already-interested and invested talent pool.”
According to surveys, approximately 10 percent of CPS high school students indicate they are interested in working in education, but far fewer go on to become educators. Teach Chicago Tomorrow creates a clear pathway to become a teacher along with structured supports to help students achieve their goals, CPS said.
“As a district serving primarily students of color, one of the best ways we can work toward a more diverse workforce is providing CPS students who aspire to be a teacher with the structured support they need to realize that dream,” said CPS CEO Dr. Janice K. Jackson, in a statement. “Hiring a more diverse workforce is a critical goal in the District’s Five Year Vision and numerous research studies have found that a diverse teacher workforce leads to positive student outcomes. As a CPS grad who became a teacher, I am thrilled to launch this critical initiative as we work to inspire the next generation of teachers.”
A major component of this strategy includes partnering with colleges and universities to support students on their pathway. The inaugural Teach Chicago Tomorrow Pathways Partnership is a new student-centered partnership between CPS, City Colleges of Chicago, and Illinois State University in which students can successfully complete college, earn their teaching credentials and begin their CPS career.
CPS said students are being recruited now at high schools for the first cohort of the Teach Chicago Tomorrow Pathways Partnership, which will begin with an anticipated class of 100 CPS graduates. They will first earn an associate degree at City Colleges of Chicago by successfully completing general education coursework requirements and then earn their bachelor’s degree by completing the second two years of college as an Illinois State University student. After undertaking a year-long student teaching experience within CPS schools and earning their Illinois teaching license, students will have priority for job placement at CPS schools.
While CPS envisions partnering with additional higher education institutions in coming years, it chose ISU for this initial program given the sharp focus on urban schools in its quality education degree program.
Illinois has seen a significant decline in African American and Latinx students earning education degrees, despite more African American and Latinx students graduating college than ever before. According to a CPS analysis of data from the Illinois Board of Higher Education over the past decade in Illinois, there’s been a 54 percent decline in African American students earning education degrees and 28 percent decline in Latinx students earning education degrees.
“In order to make a real impact on teacher diversity, we must take a two-pronged approach that focuses on short-term and long-term solutions,” said Matt Lyons, CPS Chief Talent Officer, in a statement. “Teach Chicago Tomorrow is building a strong pathway which reaches the students who have already expressed an interest in teaching and creating a support structure to help them achieve their goals.”
Teach Chicago Tomorrow also seeks to empower and support the 10 percent of students who indicate an interest in a teaching career based on surveys. To recruit the first cohort, CPS counselors and recruiters will follow up directly with students who indicated an interest in teaching on the career survey, and engage them in conversations about various supports that can help them navigate the path from CPS to college and back to CPS again as a teacher. Those include academic support, social support, financial support, and career support.
Carolina Velez, a counselor at Lane Tech, wants encourage students to take advantage and do their part to change lives.
"CPS students, we need you. This is the call. I am going to say it one more time, just in case you didn't hear me. We need you," she said.
Students and families interested in Teach Chicago Tomorrow and/or the Pathways Partnership with City Colleges of Chicago and Illinois State University can learn more at www.cps.edu/teachtomorrow.
Chicago Public Schools serves 355,000 students in 638 schools. It is the nation’s third-largest school district.