# Teacher Diversity and Retention Act: What It Actually Does

This bill aims to address a significant gap in America's schools: while about half of students come from minority backgrounds, only about 18 percent of teachers do. The legislation creates a new federal grant program to help colleges and universities recruit, train, and keep more teachers of color in the classroom, while also improving how teachers are prepared to work with students with disabilities and students who have experienced trauma.

The bill sets aside $100 million per year for six years to fund "Centers of Excellence" at colleges that serve minority students—including historically Black colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribal colleges, and similar schools. These centers would use the money to improve teacher training programs in several practical ways: they can offer scholarships to help students afford teacher education programs, provide mentoring and support for new teachers during their first three years on the job, redesign courses to better prepare teachers for low-performing schools, and create partnerships between colleges and school districts. The idea is that if more teachers of color graduate from these programs and stay in teaching longer, students—especially students of color—will have role models and teachers who better understand their experiences and can teach in culturally relevant ways.

The bill also creates a second grant program focused on preparing teachers to work with students with disabilities and students who have experienced trauma. Colleges would receive funding to train general education teachers in special education techniques, social-emotional learning, and positive behavior management practices that avoid harsh punishments. This means future teachers would learn how to support students with disabilities in regular classrooms and how to create supportive school environments rather than relying on exclusionary discipline like suspensions or seclusion.

For most people, this bill's impact depends on where you live and whether you have children in public schools. If your local schools receive teachers trained through these programs, you might see more diverse teaching staff and teachers better equipped to support all students. The bill doesn't directly affect taxes or require anything from individual citizens—it's funded through federal education appropriations that Congress would need to approve separately.

Teacher Diversity and Retention Act

Gallego, Ruben

Teacher Diversity and Retention Act This bill revises certain grant programs related to teacher recruitment and training. First, the bill reauthorizes through FY2029 and otherwise revises the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence program, which provides grants to establish teacher preparation programs at minority-serving institutions. It allows grants to be used for school leader preparation programs. In addition, the bill consolidates certain grant programs for teacher preparation into a single grant program. In particular, the Department of Education must award grants to eligible partnerships (e.g., high-need local educational agencies and certain programs at institutions of higher education) to expand teacher preparation programs that embed dual certification in special education and training on social and emotional learning competencies and behavior management practices.