June 7, 1999 Volume 21, No. 16

College Teams Up with School District to Increase Teacher Diversity An anonymous grant of nearly $100,000 to the Ithaca City School District will give a boost to district efforts to increase the diversity of its teaching staff. Under the Pathways to Teaching initiative, two members of the district’s para-professional staff who come from traditionally underrepresented groups will attend Ithaca College to earn their teaching certification. Upon successful completion of the program, the participants will be guaranteed an employment screening for any and all teacher openings in the district within their area of certification. "In an increasingly pluralistic society, it is imperative that we redouble our efforts to expand our pool of teachers from under-represented groups," says Ithaca City School District superintendent Judith Pastel. "This generous grant will help us in those efforts to make the demographics of our teaching staff better reflect that of the student body. Ithaca College has fine teacher preparation programs in all secondary school subject areas, as well as in music education, health education, physical education, and the education of teachers of speech- and hearing-impaired students." The program will allow for two full-time paraprofessionals who meet the eligibility criteria to be released from their teaching duties in order to study full-time at the College for two years. The grant will pay for a stipend, half the tuition cost, and other related education costs. Ithaca College will pay the remaining half of the tuition. "This initiative presents yet another opportunity for the College to use its resources to benefit the local community," says Bill Russell, associate dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences and director of the Center for Teacher Education. "Participants in the program will be supported in their progress toward certification by both the district and the College, through ongoing mentoring as well as seminars designed to help these teachers-in-training succeed. Of course, they will also be able to take advantage of the full range of academic, personal, and career support services provided to all our students." Pastel says the Pathways to Teaching partnership between Ithaca College and the Ithaca City School District could serve as a model program for other school districts facing similar concerns about teacher diversity.