Rebecca Panico, TapIntoNewark
NEWARK, NJ – Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger Leon is guaranteeing full-time teaching jobs to East Side High School students who begin their journey to become teachers at a new academy that prepares students to become educators.
The promise would apply to students who complete the new Teacher Education Academy at East Side High School and go onto to graduate with a teaching degree from Montclair State University. Students who enroll in and complete the academy will not only earn a high school diploma, but also a substitute teaching certificate and college credit.
“When they graduate from college, if they have all of the conditions necessary to accept the job, they automatically do not need to look for any other job in any other school district,” Leon said today to an auditorium filled with students at East Side High School students.
[…]AFT President Randi Weingarten said the program will help grow the teacher pipeline and diversify the field’s workforce.
“When we diversify our teaching force, the people feel that the teachers they have know them, understand them, are part of the community,” Weingarten said today at East Side High School. “That is really, really important. we must be part of your communities, but that starts with understanding all our communities and deeply respecting all of our communities, which means we need to have a whole lot more teachers who are men and a whole lot more teachers who are of color.
“It starts here and this starts now,” she added.
Studies have shown that having teachers of color in classrooms with low-income children of color can have a significant impact. One study found that having at least one black teacher in third through fifth grades significantly increased a low income black black boy’s chances of graduating from high school.
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