Submitted by Michael McLean First Meeting - Holiday Inn, Concord ![]() |
Submitted by Kenneth McCann
This call to arms for America’s classrooms has taken form through the Troops-To-Teachers (TTT) program. Originally introduced in 1994,
the program recently received a new infusion of financing from the
federal government, along with the strong personal support of the First
Lady. Its purpose is to challenge retirees, members leaving the armed
forces, or drilling as Guard or Reserve members to consider teaching as
a second career. The Troops-To-Teachers program enriches the quality of
American education by helping to place mature, motivated, experienced
and dedicated personnel in our nation’s classrooms.
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The program has been successful
in producing quality teachers, a high percentage of whom are men and
minorities. There a nearly 5000 who become teachers in our
nation’s schools through the TTT program and the 2002 National Teacher
of the Year is a TTT participant. In addition, these people
have experience beneficial to successful teaching in high- demand
fields, such as mathematics, science, and special education, and are
teaching in high-demand areas such as inner cities and outlying rural
areas.
The new TTT Program provides financial support directly to the service member to aid in acquiring the necessary certification to teach. In return for the financial support, the service member agrees to teach for three years in a “high needs” school. High needs is considered to be any school who has either 20% or 50% of their children receiving free or reduced lunches. For the 20% schools, an eligible service member can receive a stipend up to $5000 to be used for the certification process. For teaching in a 50% school, the eligible service member can receive a $10,000 bonus. Educational eligibility is based on a variety of factors. To teach in the K-12 public school system a person must possess, at a minimum, a bachelor’s degree. For those (Continued on page 5)
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