New effort aims to enhance the teacher pipeline and promote greater diversity across Baltimore County
In a new effort to enhance the teacher pipeline and promote greater diversity within the teaching profession across Baltimore County’s public schools, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski and Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) on Feb. 1 announced the award of a $1 million grant to support the creation of a new Diverse Teacher Recruitment Scholarship: Growing Our Own for BCPS program.
Like jurisdictions across the country, BCPS continues to experience a shortage of teachers who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), and women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) content areas. Currently, 40.4% of BCPS students are Black, 32.8% are white, 14% are Hispanic/Latino, and 7.3% are Asian, according to a press release from the County Executive John Olszewski and BCPS. However, 55.2% of BCPS teachers are white, 34.9% are Black, 5.1 percent are Hispanic, and 2.26% are Asian.
The Diverse Teacher Recruitment Scholarship aims to support the efforts from BCPS in recruiting, training, and retention of BIPOC teachers and women in STEM fields by providing eligible individuals with scholarships supporting the costs of tuition, fees, and books. The Education Foundation of Baltimore County Public School will implement the program. Former principal Deborah Phelps is the foundation’s director.
To be eligible, individuals must be:
- college students in their junior or senior years, current BCPS para-educators, and/or individuals changing careers currently studying education.
- students who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color, and/or women pursuing teaching certificates in science, technology, engineering, and/or math (STEM).
- students studying at local colleges and universities.
In addition, scholarship recipients must commit to completing internships in BCPS schools and commit to teaching with BCPS for three years upon graduation from an accredited teacher education program.
More information about The Education Foundation of BCPS may be found online at https://educationfoundationbcps.org. The teacher recruitment application may be found at https://educationfoundationbcps.org/growing-our-own-for-bcps/.
“Every child deserves to grow up with role models and mentors who look like them,” said Olszewski. “Diversity is our strength in Baltimore County and the new recruitment scholarship will support students from across the county and make our school system stronger and more vibrant.”
“This new scholarship program will help to attract and retain more high-quality teachers in Team BCPS and create a more diverse and responsive teaching corps in our schools, one that can inspire those they teach as well as inform the instruction children receive,” said BCPS Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers. “The research is clear – a diverse, multicultural teaching force, one that reflects the community, pays dividends far into the future both for the teachers themselves and also, crucially, for the children they teach.”