The Michigan Educator Workforce Initiative is a group dedicated to improving the educator recruitment pipeline throughout Michigan. CEO Jack Elsey explains the need for staff.
“Michigan has one of the largest educator shortages in the country. That’s certainly part of a national challenge that we’re all facing.”
In response to Governor Gretchen Whitmer announcing her PreK for All goal earlier this year, the group has created a pipeline of dedicated educators by partnering with other school systems across the state, including Wayne, Montcalm and Marquette Counties.
The pipeline offers registered apprenticeships for individuals who want to become early childhood teachers or early childhood center leaders.
“Our goal is that we will create programs that work just as well in Wayne as Montcalm as well as in the Upper Peninsula so that we can scale these kinds of opportunities statewide in order to meet the governor’s ambitious goal.”
Elsey says Michigan will need over 4,000 new early childhood educators in order to ensure that all 4-year-olds are served across the state, as well as hundreds of new childcare center leaders.
“We think that these programs, at least initially, will get hundreds of teachers into the pipeline where there weren’t as many before and dozens if not more than that of center leaders in the pipeline to serve kids in the long term.”
You can learn more about the pipeline here.