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Encouraging Minority Teachers

NEA partners with the Tom Joyner Foundation to launch an innovative teacher certification completion program.

NEA has partnered with the Tom Joyner Foundation to distribute more than $700,000 to Historically Black Colleges and Universities to encourage minority teachers to complete their teacher certification and ultimately teach academically struggling children in urban, suburban, and rural public schools.

The program is designed to increase the number of fully certified minority teachers around the country. Participants will be able to take classes on the campuses of seven Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

To qualify for the program, teachers must be working in an urban, suburban, or rural public school with a high percentage of minority students. Applicants will be reviewed and referred to the certification program at the closest HBCU.

For more information, or to download an application, visit www.nea.org/promo/joyner.html.

The NEA Foundation's Innovation Grants and Learning & Leadership Grants, funded in part by the Staples Recycle for Education program, are offered year-round to NEA members, including higher education members. More than 300 grants of $2,000 and $5,000 are awarded each year to fund your big ideas.

The latest round of applications will be reviewed beginning February 1, with award notification by June 15; however, applications may be submitted at any time.

All applications are peer-reviewed and grants fund activities for 12 months from the date of the award. Remember, small grants lead to big change. Applying for a grant is easy. Visit www.neafoundation.org for more information, including grant guidelines and an application, or call 202-822-7840.

There’s still time to register for NEA’s 2005 Higher Education Conference, “Dimensions of Diversity: The Changing World of Higher Education,” March 4–6 in San Antonio.

The conference will explore diversity in academia from many perspectives, including a look at the impact of recent federal and state policy changes on the academy’s ability to educate a diverse student body; diversity of the current student body; and diversity in the workforce.

Leadership Day, March 3, will focus on critical issues facing higher ed leaders. To register, log onto www.nea.org/he/conf.html.

Thought & Action, the NEA Journal of Higher Education continues to seek articles from all perspectives on “The Role of Public Higher Education in a National Security State.” As the U.S. government puts more resources toward homeland security and the Iraq war, what will these changes mean to higher education?