Paraprofessionals in three Nebraska districts are getting the chance to become classroom teachers through a new program that provides college credit for their work.
State education officials on Wednesday announced the launch of the Nebraska Teacher Apprenticeship Program, which will help paraprofessionals become licensed teachers in the Westside, Lincoln and North Platte districts.
The program was created to address the continuing educator shortage in Nebraska. At the start of the 2023-24 school year, the state had at least 908 teacher positions either left vacant or filled by an unqualified employee, an increase from 769 the previous year.
Last year, lawmakers allocated $1 million for the Nebraska Teacher Apprenticeship Program as part of Legislative Bill 705, which funded many initiatives targeting the shortage.
The Nebraska Department of Education is using the money to pilot the program in three districts that already have existing “grow your own” para-to-teacher programs, said David Jespersen, department spokesman.
“We didn’t want to start directly from scratch,” he said.
The apprenticeship program won’t replace the existing para-to-teacher initiatives in Westside, Lincoln and North Platte, but instead will add another way for even more paraprofessionals to become teachers.
Selected paraprofessionals will be able to enroll in undergraduate teacher education programs for free. The districts are partnering with Midland University, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and Chadron State College to provide the college courses.
Other school districts, including the Omaha Public Schools, have had similar para-to-teacher programs for years. One key difference under the new apprenticeship program is the ability for paraprofessionals to receive college credit while already working in the classroom with their supervising teacher.
It’s too early to know how many paraprofessionals will be able to be included, but yearly cohorts could range anywhere from 10 to 15 staff members, said Andrea Haynes, assistant superintendent for Westside.
“It reinforces that the best way to grow high-performing teachers is to have individuals spend time in classrooms,” Haynes said. “We know that for lots of different occupations, we want individuals to have their boots on the ground doing the work every day. And this apprenticeship model allows our (paras) to spend more time in the classroom as (paras) and get credit for that towards their teaching certificate and degree.”
Westside launched its own para-to-teacher program in 2022 through Midland University. Similar to the apprenticeship, it provides free tuition to obtain a teaching degree with an optional endorsement.
Shelly Sip is one of those future teachers at Westside. She’s wanted to be a classroom teacher for more than 15 years, but has instead spent that time as an educational assistant — Westside’s version of a paraprofessional — because she didn’t have enough funds to get her degree. She entered the district’s para-to-teacher program last year.
“It wasn’t enough to just be an assistant. I wanted more. I wanted to be in front of the room. I wanted to make the lesson plans,” Sip said. “(Westside’s program) is the only reason I was able to go to college. Every year, I (was) like, ‘I want to go.’ I look at my funds — don’t have them. As soon as I found out about this program, I knew that’s what I wanted.”
Brian Maher, state education commissioner, said the future of the program is murky once the $1 million is gone, though the funding should last about two years. He said school districts might have to take on the expense of the program for it to be sustainable.
“I think if (the apprenticeship program) goes particularly well — given the teacher shortage-slash-crisis that we have — I wouldn’t be surprised to see school districts themselves fund programs like this once that million dollars is spent,” Maher said.
While the program helps get more teachers in classrooms, Maher said, he acknowledged that it won’t address the entire educator shortage in Nebraska. In fact, the state already has a shortage of paraprofessionals.
“If our only answer to fill the teacher vacancies is to rob the educational assistants, or paraprofessionals, we’ve just shifted the problem,” Maher said. “What we really need to do is to make sure that everybody understands this is a great profession — this is something that’s awesome to be a part of. And we need to fill both buckets, quite frankly. Right now, we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Shelly Sip, a paraprofessional with the Westside Community Schools, reads to first graders at Westbrook Elementary. Sip, who has wanted to be a classroom teacher for more than 15 years, entered the district’s para-to-teacher program in 2023.