New Mexico announces $10 million in new scholarship funds for aspiring teachers

Dillon Mullan

The Santa Fe New Mexican

Chasity Montes, a professional development specialist for Southwest Regional Education Cooperative, gave a workshop at New Mexico State University’s College of Education for future teachers on how to improve teaching for second-language learners. The college recently merged the departments of Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership and Administration, and Special Education into a single School of Teacher Preparation, Administration and Leadership, which will better prepare master educators, administrators and leaders for public, private and governmental institutions.

The New Mexico Higher Education Department has announced $10 million in new scholarship funds available for aspiring teachers who are studying at public colleges and universities in the state.

Under the Teacher Preparation Affordability Act, or House Bill 275, which was signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in March, New Mexico residents enrolled in teacher preparation programs can apply for up to $6,000 a year to help cover tuition and other costs. The law also provides $6,000 per year in student loan repayments for educators who have taught at least three years in New Mexico.

Another measure the Legislature passed this year, the Grow Your Own Teachers Act, or House Bill 20, provides more than $500,000 in scholarship funds for educational assistants in the state who are completing teacher programs and plan to become licensed New Mexico teachers. Scholarship recipients under this program can receive up to $3,000 per semester as well as paid time off from their school jobs to complete degree and licensure requirements.

A group of teachers from Las Cruces Public Schools participate in a professional development workshop on the New Mexico State University campus as part of Math Snacks Early Algebra.

"We need teachers in all areas of the state and at all grade levels," state Higher Education Secretary Kate O'Neill said in a news release on the funding. "We need Hispanic, Native, first-generation, returning, veterans, bilingual and alternative licensure applicants for these scholarships.

"Now is the time for students to take advantage of these resources to further their dreams of becoming teachers."

According to the University of New Mexico, the average cost of attendance for in-state undergraduates there in 2019-20 — including tuition, room and board, books, transportation and other expenses — will be $22,912. New Mexico State University estimates its in-state student costs will be $22,062.

An annual study by NMSU found that out of 1,200 vacant positions for public school workers in New Mexico in fall 2018, more than 700 were teaching jobs.

Lujan Grisham said in a statement, "We need to be reaching out to aspiring educators, and we need to be facilitating their study and increasing access to this essential field. When we build the next generation of New Mexico educators, we will have done a tremendous service for the next generation of New Mexico students."

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