County Education Office receives $500K grant to bolster workforce | Education
The Santa Barbara County Education Office has obtained $500,000 in grant funding from the state to help assemble the county’s early childhood coaching workforce by expert assist.
The grant, generally called the California Apprenticeship Initiative, could be utilized by the County Education Office to help individuals working — or who must work — in toddler/toddler or preschool web sites by serving to them full the coursework important to advance their careers.
“The pandemic has confirmed the importance of a high-quality, accessible child care for teenagers and households in Santa Barbara County,” said Bridget Baublits, assistant superintendent of educational suppliers. “As a consequence of a shortage of early childhood educators, our neighborhood is challenged to assemble an expert, safe and numerous workforce to supply helpful coaching and care.”
The grant will help fund tuition, prices and totally different costs for 25 recipients over a five-year interval, and could be bolstered by an additional $100,000 donated by the Santa Barbara Foundation. It’s going to help child care assistants turn into affiliate lecturers, affiliate lecturers turn into lecturers and lecturers turn into website online supervisors by serving to to pay for the education and prices associated to the coursework needed to advance their careers.
“This grant is all about giving individuals the prospect to launch and advance their careers on this necessary and rewarding topic,” Baublits said. “We’re providing an innovation decision to the persevering with shortage of early coaching lecturers.”
Together with working to help meet staffing needs all by way of the world, the County Education Office’s Early Care and Education program operates 11 preschools and toddler amenities for low-income households countywide and connects households to sponsored child care purposes, serving to spherical 2,500 kids all by way of the county.
The county office shouldn’t be the one native tutorial group dealing with a shortage of early childhood educators.
All by way of the state, college districts have been required to unveil plans for widespread transitional kindergarten, offering full-day suppliers to all 4-year-olds. Whereas the transition will look completely totally different from district to district, nearly all would require further early childhood coaching staff. As an illustration, Santa Maria-Bonita Faculty District estimates it will need 62 new staff members by the 2023-24 college yr.
Consistent with Jennifer Loftus, director of instructing and learning for the Santa Maria-Bonita Faculty District, funding from the state should be passable to pay the salaries of current staff members, nevertheless the hurdle for the district could be discovering adequate licensed staff members.
To be taught further regarding the County Education Office’s Early Care and Education program, go to www.sbceo.org/ece.