New York State partners with nonprofit to launch teacher recruitment platform
State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said the partnership will strengthen New York’s educator pipeline.
Credit: Hans Pennink
Vicky Giouroukakis wished there was a website like TeachNY.org when she was going into teaching.
Now director of Graduate & Postgraduate Education Programs at Molloy University, Giouroukakis said she was impressed by the newly launched site that offers so much information that she and others hope will help attract more to teach.
“This platform is a really good way to get the word out about what it's like to teach,” Giouroukakis said. “It's not only for high school or college students considering a career in teaching but it's also for career-changers who are willing to transition to a different profession.”
TeachNY.org acts as a hub for prospective teachers to find information and resources to teach in New York, state Education Department officials said Tuesday in announcing its partnership with TEACH.org, a national nonprofit, to launch the recruitment platform.
TEACH.org began as an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education to reduce the national teacher shortage.
"Partnering with TeachNY will strengthen New York’s educator pipeline, encouraging well-qualified, highly motivated individuals to enter and remain in the profession,” said state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa in a statement Tuesday.
TeachNY.org itself was launched in March. On it, visitors can search for teaching programs at universities such as Molloy. They can find a database of financial aid for future teachers. They can also get coaching sessions, step-by-step guides to become certified, and reimbursements for application and testing fees.
“You don't have to search on different websites to find the information,” Giouroukakis said. “It's right there laid out in a very clear and simple way.”
Giouroukakis said she was particularly glad to see the list of scholarship opportunities include those for graduate students and teachers who want to obtain a master’s degree.
“There are not that many scholarships out there for graduate students, let alone teachers,” she said. “But there are some. And so their platform really makes it easy to find scholarships to pay for teachers’ graduate degree.”
Dafny Irizarry, president of the Long Island Latino Teachers Association, said she hopes such a platform will serve to recruit more teachers and teachers of color by removing roadblocks some face.
“Hopefully through these venues, there’s more access to information,” she said. “Everything is set in one place. That makes things more transparent, accessible and efficient.”
In Long Island schools, there has been a shortage in support staff like school nurses and bus drivers, educators have said. Bilingual teachers and those who are certified in specific areas like special education also can be difficult to find, Irizarry said.
“Sometimes it’s hard to find qualified, certified teachers in certain areas,” Irizarry said. “It sounds like this is something that will help the teaching profession.”
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.