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Starting Soon: KNEA Future Teacher Chapters

A growing teacher shortage has put at risk the right of every Kansas student to attend a great public school. Part of KNEA's answer is to recruit the best and brightest to the profession by creating Future Teacher Chapters.

Anyone interested in starting a future teacher chapter can email futureteachers@knea.org .

The KNEA Future Teacher Chapters program  is targeting high minority districts because teachers are role models. Children should see a teacher that looks like them in the first 13 years they attend school. Ethnic minorities actually make up the majority of students in many districts.  These districts are the logical place to recruit the ethnic minority teachers of the future.

The KNEA plans to set up pilot programs in selected school districts. The characteristics of the targeted school districts include those with a high minority population, interest at both the middle and high school levels, access to a KNEA student chapter, and a supplemental contract in place for the chapter sponsor.

KNEA plans to sponsor a round table to share the best practices of successful chapters with pilot district personnel. Invitees will include sponsors from current programs, higher education student chapter sponsors, administrators and local leaders from districts interested in starting future teacher chapter.

KNEA grants will help initiate a program and fund attendance to upcoming conferences.

The National Education Association (NEA) started Future Teachers of America (FTA) and/or Future Educators of America (FEA) programs in the early 1900s. Other organizations have taken over sponsorship in some states.

FTA/FEA clubs assist middle and high school students in exploring teaching as a career choice, provide a realistic understanding of teaching and encourage students from diverse backgrounds to think seriously about the teaching profession.

FTA/FEA academies integrate a structured curriculum with classroom. Background
Kansas public schools have traditionally possessed a key element of great schools for every child: a caring, competent, and qualified teacher in every classroom.

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