An additional 11 paraprofessionals in Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 will soon be on their way to becoming certified teachers courtesy of a Teacher Vacancy Grant from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).
Since the grant program started in advance of the 2023-2024 school year, Amanda Milewski, the district’s associate superintendent for strategy and accountability, said the district started a “grow your own program” to use the funds to pay the paraprofessionals’ tuition to become teachers.
Milewski said two paraprofessionals completed the program — one is a bilingual educator at Hyde Park Elementary School, and the other teaches special education at the Alternate Optional Education Center — and 14 more are completing college degree requirements.
“They are already invested in the community,” she said. “We are investing in people who will stay long-term in their careers here. They are specializing in hard-to-fill bilingual and special education positions in the elementary, middle and high school levels.”
District 60 is one of four Lake County districts learning they received Teacher Vacancy Grants on Sept. 1 in Springfield, making them among 100 statewide to receive money to recruit and retain teachers, according to a news release from ISBE.
Along with Waukegan’s $345,040 grant, North Chicago School District 187 will receive $171,711, Beach Park School District 3 gets $183,055, and Zion Elementary School District 6 will collect $88,355. Statewide, $120 million has been disbursed since the program started.
Designed to reduce teacher vacancies in school districts that have a larger number of teacher shortages, Gov. JB Pritzker said in the release that the grants are designed to ensure students “have access to excellent teachers and strong learning environments.”
“These grants will help school districts facing the most significant staffing challenges recruit and retain the educators students need to succeed,” Pritzker said in the release. “We remain committed to strengthening the educator pipeline and supporting schools across our state.”
Initially, Milewski said District 60 received $775,607 in the first two years, and $516,671 for the past term. The reduction means the district must become more selective in determining which paraprofessionals can enter the program.
At the beginning, Milewski said there were sufficient funds to enable all paraprofessionals who wanted to become teachers to do so by submitting a letter of recommendation from an administrator at their school and completing an application. Now, it will be more complex.
“We have to have a process for those who are interested,” Milewski said. “We’ll have to form a committee. They’ll have to tell us why they want to become a teacher and stay in Waukegan.”
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Normally it takes 2½ to three years to complete the program for a teaching degree and obtain the necessary certifications. Milewski said the district works with BloomBoard, a talent development organization that partners with school districts to arrange the schooling.
“We prepay the entire tuition at one time, so if the grants are dropped, the paras can complete their program,” Milewski said. “We get a discount since it’s prepaid and we don’t have to worry about tuition increases.”
Kim Andes, the director of human services for District 187, said all teaching positions were filled on the first day of school in August, enabling use of the Teacher Vacancy Grants for teacher retention.
“We want to embed instructional coaches in our schools, particularly in the high school,” Andes said. “This will help reduce turnover and improve retention of teachers. We also want to turn paraprofessionals into classroom teachers.”
Connie Collins, District 187’s interim superintendent, said the grant will help in a lot of ways, both retaining teachers and finding new ones as vacancies arise.
“We’re always excited when we get a renewal of this grant,” Collins said. “This is a shot in the arm to help us recruit in areas where there is a shortage. It’s an opportunity to see we fill those positions.”
Since the program started, Andes said the number of new teachers hired has decreased. It was 54 three years ago, 34 last year, and 21 for the current term. Recruiting internationally is another avenue to be expanded.
A district becoming increasingly Hispanic — approximately 60% of the student body — Andes said recruiting teachers internationally is an important avenue. After recruiting a teacher from Chile, the instructor has helped find more job candidates.
Collins said teachers who have the same first language as English learners are an asset. It puts those youngsters at ease as they adjust to new surroundings.
Like District 60, Andes said the amount of the grant has decreased each year, starting with $202,242 for the 2023-2024 school year, $164,8433 for the 2024-2025 term, and $134,827 a year ago.
Reducing enduring teacher shortages in areas in both rural and urban school districts, the grant program allows targeted investments to recruit, keep and provide enough professional development for educators, according to the release.
Since the program was started in 2023, the teacher vacancy rate dropped from 4.6% to 3.2.% statewide, according to the release. Needs in subjects where it is harder to find teachers also declined.