ISBE Awards $7.4 Million to Grow the Next Generation of Teachers

SPRINGFIELD- The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) today announced $7.4 million in state funding for Career and Technical Education (CTE) Education Career Pathway Grants awarded to 18 entities serving 39 school districts. The three-year grant addresses the ongoing teacher shortage by equipping high school students with the skills and experience they need to succeed in college-level teacher preparation programs and pursue careers in education.

"Teaching is career that changes lives," said State Superintendent Dr. Tony Sanders. "A career in education allows teachers to shape the future while finding deep personal fulfillment. These grants are ensuring that our students are not just prepared but inspired to step into the classroom and make a difference for generations to come. We encourage high school students in participating districts to explore this incredible field."

The CTE Education Career Pathway Grant also aims to increase future teacher diversity. Illinois, like most other states, has faced a persistent shortage of educators of color with a teacher workforce that is significantly less diverse than its student population. The demographics of the participants in ISBE's CTE Education Career Pathway Grants closely mirror the broader student population.

ISBE provided $24.8 million through previous rounds, serving nearly 12,000 Illinois high school students across 212 school districts and three community colleges.

The CTE Education Career Pathway Grant leverages research about the effectiveness of building local pipelines of teacher talent. Studies find that teachers prefer working close to where they grew up. In fact, over 60% of teachers teach within 15 miles of the high school from which they graduated.

Students in the Education Career Pathway or Program of Study participate in field experiences and work-based learning, helping them gain hands-on experience and explore various educational settings and content areas. Participants gain a head start on their journey to becoming teachers by earning dual credit; industry certification, such as paraprofessional licensure; and microcredentials to demonstrate teaching competencies. The grant also supports increasing awareness about the teaching profession through early career exploration activities and student leadership organizations, such as Educators Rising.

Unfilled positions data shows that initiatives like this are producing results, with the teaching profession in Illinois growing year-over-year for the past seven years. However, teacher supply has not kept pace with demand. Illinois districts still reported starting the 2023-24 school year with more than 4,000 teaching vacancies, with a third of the vacancies in special education. ISBE is tackling the teacher shortage via a robust portfolio of initiatives. The Teacher Vacancy Grant provided $45 million in state funding in both fiscal year 2024 and FY 2025 to help the state's most understaffed districts attract and retain teachers. Additionally, ISBE launched the $6 million The Answer is Teaching recruitment marketing campaign in July 2024, generating more than 3,800 inquiries from prospective future teachers to date.

Grantees will focus on program planning in Year 1 of the grant, with implementation occurring in fiscal years 2026-28. The CTE Education Career Pathway Grant application gave priority to entities serving rural districts, understaffed high schools, underfunded districts, and those lacking teacher diversity.

To learn more about CTE Education Career Pathway Grant, visit ISBE's College and Career Grants webpage​.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.