On March 28, 2022, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona issued a nationwide call to action for states, higher education leaders, and schools to tap federal resources and work together to address the teacher shortage and aid student recovery. The announcement encourages leaders to use American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to address this critical challenge schools and districts across the country are facing. The call to action coincides with Secretary Cardona’s participation in the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Summit on Improvement in Education in San Diego.

Sec. Cardona called on states, school districts, and institutions of higher education to use ARP funds to address the teacher shortage and increase the number of teacher candidates prepared to enter the teaching profession.

To coincide with the Sec. Cardona’s call to action, the US Department of Education (USDE) released a fact sheet providing concrete examples of how states, districts, and schools are already taking up the call to use federal COVID dollars to strengthen the teacher pipeline, get more educators in the classroom, and accelerate student recovery.  Districts and higher education institutions are partnering to create and expand residency programs, offer paraprofessional internships, get college students in the classroom more quickly, and more. Because of these partnerships, students across the country can spend more time working with qualified educators and addressing the academic impact of COVID-19. To view the USDE fact sheet, click click here.

Sec. Cardona is urging states and schools to use ARP funds and other federal COVID-19 relief funds to scale up educator preparation programs (EPPs) at institutions of higher education and look for dynamic and innovative ways to provide hands-on learning for prospective teachers or paraprofessionals in a classroom environment.

To increase the number of teacher candidates prepared to enter the profession in the fall and beyond, Secretary Cardona is calling on states to commit to:

• Establish teaching as a Registered Apprenticeship. The U.S. Department of Labor has approved standards that create an easy pathway for states to establish and use apprenticeship funding to support teaching residencies, allowing teacher apprentices to earn a good wage while learning the skills – on-the-job and through higher education partners and their integrated coursework – necessary to provide a quality education to our nation’s students. Registered Apprenticeship is an effective “earn and learn” model with a long history of establishing career pathways in various industries by providing structured, paid on-the-job learning experiences combined with job-related technical instruction with a mentor that leads to a nationally recognized credential. To learn more about Registered Apprenticeships, visit apprenticeship.gov.
• Invest in evidence-based teacher residency programs. States can provide grant funding to increase the number of partnerships between and districts that support teaching residencies.
• Establish or expand loan forgiveness or service scholarship programs. These programs can also include a commitment to teach in a high-need area for a minimum number of years.
• Increase teacher compensation. Provide a competitive and livable wage, including increasing starting salaries and salary caps for teachers.

To increase the number of teacher candidates prepared to enter the profession in the fall and beyond, Sec. Cardona is calling on districts to commit to:

• Increase the number of partnerships between EPPs and districts that support teaching residencies and schools. Teacher residents, as part of their clinical experience, can serve in schools as substitutes, paraprofessionals, or tutors as their academic schedules allow and as they complete requirements for teacher certification.
• Increase the availability of qualified teacher residents to support educators, students, and staff. Districts can partner with institutions of higher education to provide additional supports to educators and students through the use of teaching candidates.

To increase the number of teacher candidates prepared to enter the profession in the fall and beyond, Secretary Cardona is calling on institutions of higher education and EPPs to commit to:

• Increase the number of teaching residency programs and program capacity. Teacher residents, as part of their clinical experiences, can serve in schools as substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, or tutors as their academic schedules allow and as they complete requirements for teacher certification. An institution could use its HEERF institutional funds to expand its teacher training programs in response to the pandemic through such measures as hiring additional faculty and staff; providing stipends, scholarships, or other students aid; and creating additional course offerings.
• Work with states to establish teaching as a Registered Apprenticeship. The U.S. Department of Labor has approved standards that create an easy pathway for states to establish and use apprenticeship funding to support teaching residencies. As previously described, Registered Apprenticeship is an effective “earn and learn” model with a long history of establishing career pathways in various industries by providing structured, paid on-the-job learning experiences combined with job-related technical instruction with a mentor that leads to a nationally recognized credential. To learn more about Registered Apprenticeships, visit apprenticeship.gov.
• Establish or expand loan forgiveness or service scholarship programs. These programs can also include a commitment to teach in a high need area for a minimum number of years.

To view the entire press release, click here.

New bill to create a grant program to better recruit, develop, and retain SISPs professionals in rural and lower-income school districts that historically experience workforce shortages 

On March 24, 2022, U.S. Representatives Marie Newman (IL-03), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and Susan Wild (PA-07) introduced H.R. 7219, the Growing, Recruiting, and Obtaining Workers in Specialized Instructional Support Personnel Services (GROW SISPS) Act, as part of an effort to ensure students receive the individualized support they need to succeed in the classroom. The new bill will create a grant program at the Department of Education to increase partnerships between school districts and colleges to train and certify various Specialized Instruction Support Personnel programs (SISPs) to better serve rural and lower-income school districts. 

“All of us in Congress have a fundamental obligation to ensure our nation’s children have access to high-quality public education, no matter where they live or the wealth of their community,” said Rep. Newman. “By passing the GROW SISPS Act, we can provide America’s school districts with a pipeline of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel that work directly with students who are facing learning barriers and ensure they’re getting the services they need to succeed. At a time when schools are facing national workforce shortages and students are reeling from mental health crises caused by the pandemic, I am proud to introduce this comprehensive, bipartisan legislation to better support our students, teachers, parents and entire communities across the nation.” 

“Specialized Instructional Support Personnel work tirelessly in schools across the country to support students and foster positive and safe learning environments. Unfortunately, there is a nationwide shortage of qualified SISPs, particularly in rural and lower-income school districts, and the demand for these professionals is only increasing,” said Rep. Fitzpatrick. “Our legislation will establish a Department of Education grant program that will allow these underserved school districts to bolster recruitment and retention of qualified SISP professionals so that schools can provide crucial support services and meet student needs.” 

“As our students emerge from a long battle with learning barriers that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s critical that we give schools the tools to train Specialized Instructional Support Personnel, or SISPs, and properly address the shortage of essential services that many school programs experience,” said Rep. Wild. “This legislation is a commonsense, effective solution for our nation’s most hard to staff school districts in rural and lower-income areas, and I’m proud to have introduced it with a group of bipartisan colleagues.” 

In school districts across the nation, Specialized Instructional Support Personnel, or SISPs, work with teachers, school support staff, parents, community members, and other education stakeholders to help students remove learning barriers. They can include school-based mental health professionals like school counselors, school psychologists, and professionals that work with students with disabilities who provide crucial services to students to address students’ needs in school. However, the vast majority of schools nationwide fall short of the recommended ratios of school-based mental health professionals to students, especially in rural and lower income school districts. 

Rural and lower-income school districts often struggle to find and retain qualified SISPs, putting those school districts at great risk of shortages. To mitigate this challenge, GrowYour Own programs focus on recruiting staff already living and working in these communities. Some may already be working in other roles within the same school district and can be re-trained and certified in other essential roles, such as school psychology. 

This bill would help add more “Grow Your Own” programs to schools to recruit, develop, and retain SISPs professionals who are already in the community. Grow Your Own programs have typically been used develop and train teachers to address teacher shortages and have been proven to be a successful model for graduate programs such as school psychologists. By passing the GROW SISPS Act, Congress can better address national workforce shortages of SISPs roles, particularly in hard to staff school districts in rural and lower-income areas. 

A number of organizations support this legislation, including the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE), and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). 

To view H.R. 7219, click here.

U.S. Ed. Sec. Cardona and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra have announced a joint effort to expand school-based health services. The announcement said the pandemic has challenged the health and well-being of youth, highlighting pre-existing inequities in access to health services. USDE and DHS will provide additional technical assistance, resources and support to schools, including guidance on federal funding available for school-based physical and behavioral health services and recommendations for using Medicaid in delivering these services.

On March 24, 2022, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona wrote a letter to educators and parents regarding new Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations and the recommendations’ impact on children with disabilities. This letter addresses the needs of students with disabilities as we move into a new phase in our response to the pandemic. The letter addresses the CDC’s February 2022 framework for identifying COVID-19 Community Levels and encourages schools to lead with equity and inclusion to ensure all students have access to in-person learning alongside their peers.

The letter includes sections on leveraging the individualized education program or Section 504 process to ensure schools have protections in place to protect in-person learning; continuing use of layered prevention strategies to keep school communities safe; and ensuring students receive education and services in the least restrictive environment. Click below to access the:

Letter to Educators and Parents Regarding New CDC Recommendations and
Their Impact on Children with Disabilities