LITTLE ROCK -- More than 200 new teachers will come to Arkansas over the next three years through $6 million in public and private funds going toward a national nonprofit for impoverished schools, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Wednesday.
Hutchinson said he's giving $3 million from his discretionary fund to recruit 150 new teachers to schools in eastern and southern Arkansas through Teach for America. A group of private donors are donating another $3 million for Teach for America to hire another 65 teachers the Little Rock School District.
"It's an extraordinary opportunity for central Arkansas, south and east Arkansas, to inspire a new generation of young people, to utilize the talents of some incredible teachers and to see the difference it makes in the lives of our young people and the product we produce and the improvements we can see in education in this state," Hutchinson said in a news conference at the Capitol.
Teach for America recruits recent college graduates who commit to teach in high-need schools for two years. It has operated in Arkansas since 1991, and has 115 teachers fulfilling their commitment in the state currently, another 95 that are teaching beyond their commitment and another 20 alumni who are in leadership positions at schools.
The program currently operates in five counties in the state. This will mark the first time Teach for America will operate in the Little Rock School District, which was taken over by the state last year after six schools were determined to be in academic distress.
The fund will allow the district, which employs nearly 2,200 teachers, to bring in up to 15 new teachers for the 2016-2017 school year.
The plan drew criticism from a state lawmaker who called it a short-term fix that doesn't address the obstacles in recruiting teachers to the districts being targeted.
"If these are kids with the greatest needs, guess what they need? The best teachers with the best experience and the most effectiveness," Democratic state Sen. Joyce Elliott of Little Rock said. "The reason teachers don't go to these areas is an economic development issue."
State Desk on 01/28/2016