CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The state has pitched in millions of dollars to help North Carolina’s newest teachers by helping pay the cost of teaching licenses for about 3,500 aspiring educators, and there’s still time for others to qualify.
The funding is part of Gov. Roy Cooper’s Emergency Education Relief Fund and comes at a time when many districts across the state are facing staffing challenges. The program started in June 2023 with $3 million, and there’s still about $1 million available. Prospective or new teachers who qualify can get up to $500 in licensing costs covered.
One Chapel Hill teacher, who benefited from the assistance, says it boosted her morale as an educator.
Having been a teacher’s assistant for 16 years, Madeleine Salazar is no stranger to the classroom.
“It’s really hard sometimes to let them go, but then continuing those relationships with them is really awesome,” Salazar, a teacher at Rashkis Elementary School, said. “Multiple times I thought about going back to get the teaching license and was really intimidated by the whole process, the cost and all those things. So I just kept stopping myself.”
Three years ago, she enrolled in the district’s TA to Teach program, meaning she was able to teach while she was working toward her license. The district paid for classes, books and materials, but there were still other testing costs.
“Maybe for some people it's easy to just pull that cash out and be like, ‘OK, that's fine.’ But I'm a single parent with two children,” Salazar said. “It was a lot it was just a lot for me to consider. I'm paying this out now and I hadn't anticipated those extra costs.”
Then she heard about an opportunity to get those testing costs covered through the governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund, administered by TeachNC. She was able to get $430 reimbursed.
“It was nice being able to then get that money back because I had already put all of that on my credit cards in about a three or four month span. And then it spanned over a summer where I'm not getting paid at all. It's whatever I've saved up,” Salazar said.
Now, she’s been telling other people who may also qualify about the opportunity before it ends in the fall. She says it was an easy process, and it’s validating to know her career is so valuable and worth a financial investment from the state.
“For me, it was very much like a little bit of a boost of like, ‘Awesome, you did want me to actually stay in this business. So you're giving me back a little bit,’” Salazar said.
Based on TeachNC’s projections, the remaining $1 million in funding is expected to be distributed. Requests will be reviewed through September of this year or until money runs out, whichever happens first. People are encouraged to apply sooner rather than later.
The program launched in June 2023, but teachers are able to request reimbursement for any test related expenses they paid for on or after July 1, 2022.
To learn more, visit TeachNC’s website.