Governor Ron DeSantis Awards $5 Million to Strengthen Florida’s Teacher Pipeline

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis awarded $5 million through the Pathways to Career Opportunities Grow Your Own Teacher Grant to expand opportunities for teacher apprenticeships in Florida. This program strengthens the state’s teacher pipeline by creating a no-cost apprenticeship pathway to the teaching profession, and will help more than 200 teachers per year become credentialed.

“Florida is proud to offer a hands-on teacher apprenticeship program that prioritizes classroom experience over university-based learning,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “As the national leader in education, we will continue to support our teachers and make sure we have high-quality educators at every school in the state.”

“Governor DeSantis continues to prioritize Florida’s education system through innovative initiatives like the Pathways to Career Opportunities Grow Your Own Teacher Grant,” said Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. “This funding will allow more aspiring educators to enter into a teaching career while alleviating teacher shortages.”

Earlier this year, Governor DeSantis reinforced Florida’s commitment to recruit and retain high-quality teachers by signing HB 1035, which established the Teacher Apprenticeship Program. The Department of Education worked in partnership with the University of Florida to establish the framework for the program before the legislation passed so that new teachers could start entering the profession as quickly as possible.

“Today’s announcement of the $5 million Pathways to Career Opportunities Grow Your Own Teacher Grant is great news for Florida’s future educators. This will provide a new pathway to the teaching profession that emphasizes hands-on training by working directly within classrooms to get the necessary experience to earn an educator certificate,” said Representative Karen Gonzalez Pittman.

“Thank you to Governor DeSantis for prioritizing Florida’s education system workforce pipeline with visionary initiatives like the Pathways to Career Opportunities Grow Your Own Teacher Grant,” said Senator Alexis Calatayud. “This initiative and funding allows colleges and universities to partner with their local school districts and charter schools to provide more opportunities to those aspiring to become teachers.”

The institutions receiving funding through the PCOG GYO in 2023-24 are:

• Broward College
• Daytona State College
• Florida A&M University
• Florida Gateway College
• Florida SouthWestern State College
• Miami Dade College
• Rollins College
• Seminole State College
• Saint Leo University
• University of Florida

In addition to the PCOG GYO investment, Governor Ron DeSantis has championed several initiatives to recruit and retain high-quality educators, including:

• Expanding the pathways to become a certified educator in Florida including creating the Military Veterans Certification pathway to allow military service to count toward the requirements for a temporary educator certificate under the mentorship of a certified teacher.
• Investing over $3.3 billion in teacher salary increases and securing an average starting teacher pay over $48,000 for the first time in Florida’s history.
• Extending the temporary certification time period from three years to five to provide educators additional time to meet the requirements to receive a professional educator certificate.
  • Allowing educators on a temporary certificate to satisfy the General Knowledge requirement providing flexibilities for educators to meet the mastery of general knowledge, professional education, and subject area exams.
  • Expanding adjunct certification to support charter schools and extending the validity period of the adjunct certificate to five years.

For more information about the Florida Pathways to Career Opportunities Grant Grow Your Own Program visit www.fldoe.org/pathwaysgrant.

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