Over 100 training teams urge Congress to revive trainer workforce grants as federal cuts depart 49,000 vacancies

In a letter despatched late final week, over 100 nationwide and state training organizations urged Congress to reinstate federal grants that had been just lately canceled, threatening efforts to deal with trainer shortages in US colleges. The teams pushed again in opposition to the US Division of Training’s February 17 determination to chop funding for key trainer preparation packages, together with the Supporting Efficient Educator Improvement (SEED), Instructor High quality Partnership (TQP), and Instructor and Faculty Chief Incentive Program grants.
The funding cuts have already disrupted the educator pipeline for the subsequent faculty yr, as trainer candidates have misplaced scholarships and paid internships simply months earlier than finishing their licensure necessities, based on a report by training information portal k12dive.com. The cuts particularly focused progressive preparation packages addressing shortages in particular training, science, math, profession and technical training, early childhood training, and English learners.
The cuts are a part of broader cost-saving measures applied by the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) throughout federal companies. The training teams’ letter was signed by main organizations together with AASA, The Faculty Superintendents Affiliation, the American Affiliation of Faculties for Instructor Training, the American Federation of Lecturers, and numerous trainer training organizations from a number of states.
“The lack of these grants impacts the effectiveness of our educating workforce. Lots of the packages had been designed to draw folks from fields outdoors of training who may carry their experience into the classroom. Now, these people might not have entry to the assist and assets they should transition into educating, depriving college students of worthwhile real-world data and expertise,” the letter said based on the k12dive.com report.
The Training Division confirmed that the TQP and SEED awards had been among the many canceled grants. Division spokesperson Savannah Newhouse responded to the teams’ letter, stating: “America’s college students are falling dangerously behind in math and studying. Instructor prep packages needs to be prioritizing coaching that prepares youth with the basics they should succeed for the long run, not losing worthwhile coaching assets on divisive ideologies.”
The influence of those cuts is already evident throughout a number of states. In Louisiana, a $23 million funding for high-quality trainer pipeline packages in high-need colleges was canceled, together with two TQP grants targeted on rural colleges and apprenticeship-based certification. A SEED grant that may have offered over 550 academics to New Orleans colleges by 2025 was additionally terminated.
Michigan misplaced TQP grants addressing trainer shortages and literacy instruction. Ohio noticed the cancellation of a TQP grant that aimed to increase partnerships between faculty districts and educator preparation packages for high-impact tutoring by way of school-based mentoring fashions.
In Tennessee, the cancellation of SEED grants halted initiatives for enhancing educational management in STEM, literacy, and computational considering in rural areas. This affected 35 faculty leaders and 125 academics who misplaced deliberate skilled improvement and coaching, impacting roughly 3,200 college students in rural districts.
The cuts come at a time when districts nationwide have been battling trainer shortages. Throughout the 2024-25 faculty yr, districts employed 400,000 underqualified educators and nonetheless confronted at the very least 49,000 vacancies, based on analysis from the College of Missouri, College of Pittsburgh, and different establishments.
The TQP and SEED grants had been designed to deal with these shortages by way of progressive approaches to trainer preparation {and professional} improvement. The cancellation of those packages has created instant challenges for colleges and districts working to take care of certified educating employees for the upcoming tutorial yr.