Half a million dollars will go towards helping California State University, Long Beach students train to become urban teachers.
On Friday, CSULB’s Urban Teacher Education Academy received a $500,000 grant from SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union.
“We, the UTEACH family, are so honored and grateful that the SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union understands how to truly support and improve education,” CSULB UTEACH professor Felipe Golez said via email.
The funds will be allocated as five $5,000 scholarships and $1,000 to $2,000 stipends for all program participants over the course of the next five years, according to a press release Friday.
Golez said that UTEACH receives little funding from the College of Education. UTEACH receives 3 units of assigned time per academic year. These funds are split between two university supervisors, Golez said.
“[The grant] provides some funds to support our UTEACH student teachers who, traditionally do whatever they can to support themselves as they dedicate an academic year, embedded in an urban public school learning how to become teachers,” Golez said.
According to its website, the UTEACH training model requires participants to work for a year at on-site teaching residencies in local urban schools, such as those in the Long Beach Unified School District. According to its website, LBUSD has 84 schools and employs over 8,000 people annually.
Golez said that LBUSD Superintendent Chris Steinhauser suggested that he may only want student teachers trained in models such as UTEACH.
“In other words, the word has gotten out that we are doing quality work preparing future elementary school teachers to teach anywhere,” Golez said.
Bill Cheney, the president and CEO of SchoolsFirst FCU, said in the press release that CSULB won the award because the UTEACH model is “noble” and helpful in preparing future teachers.
“Supporting education and professional development is more important than ever,” Cheney said. “Educators build the future… We are honored to support a program that helps prepare teachers for the future.”
The grant is part of the CSULB I Declare Campaign, according to the press release. SchoolsFirst FCU has had a working relationship with UTEACH for several years and has bestowed scholarships upon UTEACH in the past as well, Golez said.
“SchoolsFirst FCU has long been a tremendous partner for CSULB and this most recent gift will truly benefit students by providing additional access to our groundbreaking UTEACH program,” Andrea Taylor, the Vice President of university relations and development, said in the press release.
Golez said that the grant is one step forward in preparing students to be better teachers. He said there is still a lot of work to be done for the education system.
“…The way UTEACH prepares future teachers by connecting theory and practice in an applied way, is the way we should be preparing all teachers,” Golez said.
After receiving the grant, the program has been renamed SchoolsFirst FCU UTEACH.