Grant to help more resources for teachers and students

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- The U.S. Department of Education awarded the South Bend Community School Corporation the Teacher and School Leader Incentive Program grant of over 22 million dollars.

The money will be split up evenly over a three-year period, with 7 million dollars being used to implement, improve and expand teacher development.

“This grant will allow us to ensure every student has an effective and experienced teacher and every school has an effective leadership team to improve the successful outcomes for all students,” SBCSC Superintendent Dr. Todd Cummings said.

According to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, Indiana comes in last place with having the lowest teacher salary increase out of all the states in the country. Some teachers said that funds are so low they’re used to paying for their own school supplies in some cases.

“I’ve been in this school for 21 years and I’ve never had a compensation for that. I’ve dedicated my career our children here,” Muessel Elementary School teacher Melissa Rowe.

The funding will help out schools all throughout the district, and especially schools that fit into a higher need category, providing raises and bonuses for teachers, bringing new teacher support, providing new learning opportunities, and expanding support to students further.

Some SBCSC teachers said that they’re excited to see the new opportunities in store.

“I think that this is a great opportunity for our school in many ways our professional development is what’s so important,” Rowe said. “We’ve seen teachers come and go through the years so we would really like to see this be put in place to get a good set of teachers and staff that are here for our kids, they’re getting their professional development and they want to put their time into it so the kids outcome is what the goal is.”

SBCSC leaders said they feel confident that this grant will provide better student performance in the district.

“When you invest in teachers and you invest in great leaders you get better student outcomes so as I said when my board renewed my contract, that I’m committed that our legacy is going to be that no child goes to a underperforming school,” Cummings said. “So when you invest in great teachers and we train them and pay them more, and same with our principals, you end up with an increased student performance.”