New partnership between Knox Co. Schools, UTK to attract, retain best future teachers

A new partnership between the University of Tennessee and Knox County Schools (KCS) aims to help get well-educated and promising teachers into the classroom.

The Tennessee Department of Education announced the new “Grow Your Own” partnership.

"We are thrilled Knox County Schools and UT Knoxville are launching a Grow Your Own partnership to encourage aspiring teachers to pursue the profession,” said Tennessee Commissioner of Education Penny Schwinn. “All students deserve a highly-effective teacher in their classrooms, and this new Grow Your Own partnership will help ensure Knoxville has a strong local pipeline of future educators.”

The program will launch in the fall of 2020, according to a press release. KCS will commit to hiring 10-15 current UT Knoxville students as paraprofessionals for their internship year for the 2020-21 school year.

The students, referred to as an Aspiring Teacher cohort, will receive a salary and healthcare during what is usually an unpaid period of work. They will also get credit for their future retirement.

Those students will also be offered signing bonuses for the 2021-22 school year, pending good standing as a paraprofessional, completing their degree and earning appropriate licensure.

“At the heart of student learning is our teachers and we must ensure that there is a qualified workforce to educate the children of Knox County,” said KCS Superintendent Bob Thomas. “We appreciate our partnership with the state of Tennessee and the University of Tennessee and applaud them for recognizing this need. We’re excited to be part of an initiative that we believe will help remove barriers and motivate more young people to pursue teaching as a profession.”

The Aspiring Teacher cohort students are already in a K-5/special education dual certification program and will earn their Master’s degree by summer 2021 pending good standing in their program, according to the release.

“This program supports the teacher pipeline problem we see in parts of the state,” Ellen McIntyre, dean of the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville said. “But more than that, we are assured that the new teachers will be well prepared. Knox County Schools and UT Knoxville have designed an outstanding program to meet this need.”

UTK is the third Grow Your Own program in the state, joining Austin Peay and Lipscomb Universities. State leaders would like to see the program expanded even more.

The Department of Education also announced $1 million in funding for teachers across the state to get their special education endorsement at no cost to them. School districts will be able to submit the names of teachers for this program.

Source: WBIR

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Published March 4, 2020