I work as a teacher assistant in a fast-growing city.  More and more people are starting to move here to work in the energy and defense industry, and the city school system is trying to hire more teachers to meet the needs of families with kids.  The superintendent of schools says he is not able to offer high enough salaries to recruit many teachers from other states, and although there is a new effort to expand educational programs to train new teachers, it isn’t happening quickly enough to meet the demand.  In the meantime, the school system is encouraging those with at least some teaching experience to take online courses and get online college degrees  in education, which would help them quickly get state certification to teach.  

I have been given an approved online university to choose from, if I want to go ahead with this program. Apparently the state has worked out a special rate package with them, and will be paying tuition for those already working for the school system.  The state is offering us a small monthly stipend as an added incentive. It’s not much, but it helps.  It certainly helped me make up my mind to sign up.      

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