Source: US News
Trump Administration’s aim to cut $9 billion in federal education programs, puts teacher preparation programs – also referred to as Title II – at risk of losing federal funding, which also means that the quality of education that students receive might suffer.
The administration’s budget proposal has called teacher preparation programs “poorly targeted and spread thinly across thousands of districts with scant evidence of impact.”
While there is little data to determine in which areas the programs are most effective, there is much evidence to suggest that a student’s success depends heavily upon the teacher’s teaching skills.
According to Eric Hanushek, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, teacher prep programs have been criticized as ineffective and have yielded “very little evidence that the funds have been used very well.”
This is because the federal government does not require states and school districts to examine whether the funds are being spent efficiently and if Title II is actually benefitting students’ academic performance.
Hanushek states, “We want to find a way to make sure we aren’t taking money away from districts using it effectively, but that doesn’t justify giving it to districts that aren’t using it effectively.”
Hanushek suggests that the money should still be used in more effective programs that can be tracked and linked to student success.
Read full story at: US News