Federal cuts to a training program mean fewer STEM teachers in high-needs schools this year

California schools are heading into a new academic year without about $148 million in federal grants for teacher preparation programs, funds seen as integral to addressing widespread teacher shortages.

Federal grant cuts in California include the Teacher Quality Partnership, which recruits “diverse candidates who can meet the needs of partner high need districts.” The funding supported salaries to teachers in training in exchange for a three-year teaching commitment.

While the state battles the federal government in court over the cuts, school districts are bracing for the impact. California, along with the rest of the country, doesn’t have enough qualified teachers, particularly severe in marginalized communities. Though the state has invested more than $1 billion in the past decade to address the problem, it has seen a year-over-year decrease of more than 11% in new teacher credentials since the pandemic.

Teacher Quality Partnerships grants have been used to recruit prospective teachers who might not be able to afford the traditional pathway, which requires students to pay tuition while fulfilling unpaid teaching hours in local districts. Teacher residencies, on the other hand, use grants to pay prospective educators and help cover tuition costs. This lowers a barrier, allowing a more diverse pool of educators to enter the field.

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“One of the major design flaws of teacher education is that we designed a system that expects individuals to work for free,” said  Kathlene Campbell, CEO of the National Center for Teacher Residencies, limiting “the ability for individuals from all walks of life to become an educator.”

Teacher residencies are modeled on medical residencies, where students gain mentorship and work experience while taking courses.

According to the Learning Policy Institute, a nonprofit promoting equity in education, California school administrators rate teachers who gain credentials through residencies much higher than those using other pathways. Resident teachers also often stay in their districts longer.

The grant cuts will affect about 20% of those programs. While the state has invested heavily in residencies, federal funds covered half the costs for some programs.

The cuts have affected the Los Angeles Urban Teacher Residency Program at Cal State LA, which has had to reduce salaries for the incoming cohort from $60,000 to $35,000 a year. As of last month, nearly 30% of the program’s residents had decided not to enroll in the program because of the salary decrease, said A. Dee Williams, the program’s founder. It also had to cut a full-time staff member.

“The work just doesn’t stop,” Williams said. “ We're going to keep doing the work that we need to do because the work is that important.”

The Cal State LA program, which started in 2009 with a Teacher Quality Partnership grant, focuses on math and science teachers and has welcomed its 14th cohort.

Teacher Quality Partnership grants focus on STEM education in districts that serve a larger proportion of low-income, foster care or English learner students; in Southern California, Los Angeles Unified and Montebello School District both benefit from the TQP grant.

A study this year by the Learning Policy Institute showed that when credentialed teachers are not available, high needs districts are three times as likely to fill positions with less qualified teachers. In 2020-21, teacher residency programs were responsible for training 10% of newly credentialed California teachers.

Termination letters from the federal government

In February, the U.S. Education Department sent termination letters to grantees, saying it would no longer support programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, calling such programs illegal and discriminatory. The letter, which emphasized the department’s goal to “eliminate discrimination in all forms of education,” is part of the Trump administration’s attempt to erase diversity efforts across the country.

The administration’s approach does not line up with reality, said UC Berkeley Education Professor Kyle Beckham.

“ We can either teach in the world that exists, which is one of diversity, or we can play pretend,” Beckham said. “ What is the opposite to each of those terms? Homogeneity, unfairness, inequity, exclusion? Is that what we want?”

In March, California and seven other states sued the U.S. Department of Education for terminating grants totaling more than $600 million, including the Teacher Quality Partnership. The lawsuit disputes the legality of the cuts, saying the department acted arbitrarily and “failed to provide a transparent, internally consistent, and reasonable explanation,” as required by federal regulations. It also said the department did not comply with laws requiring such changes to go through a formal rulemaking process.

While a U.S. District Court judge in Massachusetts quickly ordered a temporary halt to the cuts while the case is being litigated, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that order in April. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that the grantees would not suffer irreparable harm without the funds over the duration of the case. The states and federal government are currently fighting over which court has authority to rule in the case.

This lawsuit was the first of 15 in which the Supreme Court overturned a lower court's ruling blocking Trump administration funding cuts, a substantial increase from any other president.

The administration also froze over $6 billion in funding to school districts on June 30, the day before it was to be disbursed. The money was released on July 25 after pressure from Congress.

This story is part of “The Stakes,” a UC Berkeley Journalism project on executive orders and actions affecting Californians and their communities.