Daytona State College has joined Valencia College in offering a special apprenticeship program to school employees who want to become teachers.
The community college will launch the program this fall, for current school employees at Volusia, Brevard and Flagler public schools who want to become teachers.
In a statement, the college’s president Dr. Tom LoBasso said the program is aimed at alleviating a statewide teacher shortage, by, “giving qualified school employees a flexible, free option to become fully certified teachers in as little as two years.”
Graduates will earn their bachelors in elementary or exceptional education, while maintaining their full-time jobs.
The program features both in-person and virtual classes, along with student teaching experiences and mentorship from a veteran teacher in the districts.
Education professor Ana Blaine said the program is open to anyone the districts choose to enroll.
“I'm predicting it's going to be mostly paraprofessionals. But no, it does not have to be paraprofessionals,” Blaine said. “So in other states that have done teacher apprenticeships, we've seen cafeteria workers, office staff, any individual at the school that this district is deciding to invest in, to allow them this opportunity to get this degree.”
The goal is to make the program as accessible as possible to working students.
“So I think the biggest shift is, removing them from that traditional coursework, and allowing them to use their experience, their hands-on experience with K-12 students to demonstrate the competencies. We're also looking at ways to offer credit for prior learning, for prior experience,” Blaine said.
Interested employees can contact their individual districts human resource departments.
The program is made possible by a $5 million statewide Pathways to Career Opportunities Grant.
The news comes after Valencia College announced it will be piloting a similar program next fall for Orange and Osceola County employees.
According to the Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union, Florida currently has a shortage of 4,000 teachers, despite several districts like Volusia County displacing teachers last week.
