Horace Mann, a Springfield-based insurance and financial services company for educators, has given $2,500 to the University of Illinois Springfield’s teacher education department to pay for a dual credit course for Sangamon and Menard County high school seniors.
The goal of this dual credit course is to encourage more students to become teachers in the wake of the state-wide teacher shortage, according to a press release.
The dual credit course, called “Foundations of American Education,” started in fall semester 2018 with 18 students from eight area high schools.
“School officials and administrators tell us that finding teachers is becoming more difficult,” Marita Zuraitis, Horace Mann president and CEO, said in a statement. “We hope this program will encourage more high school students to explore the educator profession and give them a jump start on their college degree.”
A report by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools found that the teacher shortage is especially an issue in central and southern Illinois.
This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on April 8, 2019.
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