Camden schools have launched a teacher apprenticeship program to tap local talent

The Camden City School District has launched a new federally recognized apprenticeship program to help ready its classroom aides for teaching positions.

The Teacher Pathway Apprenticeship was announced Thursday as the first of its kind in New Jersey, designed to help fill a growing educator shortage by providing financial aid and other resources to help paraprofessionals obtain certification to become teachers.

The Camden Education Fund has pledged $150,000 in grant funding for Camden U — a nonprofit hybrid college that administers the pathway program — to recruit and enroll paraprofessionals, also known as classroom aides, already working in the district. Some will attend classes to complete bachelor’s degrees or take Praxis exams required for certification, all at little or no cost.

“There are so many diamonds in the rough here in Camden, across the state and across the country,” said Giana Campbell, the fund’s executive director. “The stakes are too high for a handful of missed questions on an exam or thousands of dollars in certification courses to deprive our students of a great teacher in the making.”

About 30 paraprofessionals are enrolled in Camden U, which allows students to go at their own pace with asynchronous learning, said Khary Golden, executive director. They get counseling, mentoring, and test-prep coaching.

Golden said about six paraprofessionals have so far earned a certificate of eligibility through the program. Camden U, which has a partnership with Southern New Hampshire University to provide needed training, hopes to enroll a new cohort by August, he said.

» READ MORE: ‘The strongest talent is already in our schools’: Paraprofessionals get help making the leap to teacher

About 18 states have created federally recognized apprenticeship programs, according to Michael Blatt, state director of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship. New Jersey’s program may qualify for state or federal funding, he said.

“The program’s vision is to achieve incredible success,” Blatt said.

During a news conference at City Hall, Travis Elliott, 32, a science teacher at Cooper’s Poynt School, said the program helped him transition from being a classroom aide to teaching middle schoolers in the school year that just ended. He had been a paraprofessional for several years.

“It will be a saving grace for a lot of people,” said Elliott.

Elliott said he landed in teaching after working as a security officer and personal trainer. He had a degree in recreation from Cheyney University, but needed support getting a teacher certification. The pathway program picked up the cost of his exams.

“I love teaching. It’s very fulfilling,” Elliott said. “I feel like a superhero.”

Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen lauded the apprenticeship. His mother was a paraprofessional for 18 years and returned to college when she was 52 to obtain a degree to become a teacher, he said.

“This is what I call helping make dreams a reality,” Carstarphen said.

The South Jersey district has about 29 teacher vacancies for the upcoming school year, mostly for special education, math, bilingual, ESL and health and physical education positions, said Theresa Reese, the district’s chief talent officer.

“We’re still in a bit of a deficit, but we’re moving in the right direction,” Reese said.

Reese said the district has offered a $10,000 signing bonus to a dozen new hires. Camden gave the perk, paid in three installments, for the first time in 2023 for new hires in high-demand positions.

Camden, like districts around the country, has grappled with a teacher shortage that is crippling its ability to staff classrooms. Many of the paraprofessionals have years of experience in the district and could help fill a vital need, officials say.

There is no guarantee the paraprofessionals who become certified will be hired in Camden, but the district has said it will give them serious consideration.

Currently, there are 237 paraprofessionals in the district, an entry-level position that pays about $22,000 annually, compared with about $53,000 for a new elementary school teacher.

In addition to holding a bachelor’s degree, public school teacher candidates in New Jersey must complete at least 12 weeks as a student teacher, attend a teacher preparation program, and pass the Praxis.

Earlier this week, Gov. Phil Murphy announced the Educator Certification Fee Holiday, a $5 million program to streamline the teacher certification process and waive certification application fees. The program is effective immediately and will run through June 30, 2024.