A new countywide program is making becoming a teacher easier. Called the Monroe Regional Teacher Residency Consortium, it supports the training and education of more than 100 teachers.  

“It's a couple of teacher education institutions and several districts combining forces to support each other in addressing a common problem," explains Kevin Meuwissen.  

Meuwissen chairs the teaching and curriculum program at the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester. He says a problem is the growing shortage of teachers not just in Monroe County, but across New York state. 

State officials anticipate a demand for 180,000 new teachers in the next decade. A multimillion-dollar grant from the New York State Department of Labor’s Empire State Teacher Residency Program funds the new residency program in Monroe County.  

"Perhaps those uncertified teachers, whether they’re long-term subs or whatever, want to become teachers and go into education," said Meuwissen. "But it’s expensive and time-consuming."

Aspiring teachers can enroll in master's and certification programs through the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education or Nazareth University’s School of Education, while enrolled students will also get hands-on experience in classrooms throughout the county.  

"They’ll be embedded in schools as co-teaching mentees and also taking courses,” Meuwissen said. “So what they learn can be brought into the field.”

Teachers in the residency consortium spend the entire year working in a set district instead of being moved around after a few weeks. The idea is that once they graduate, they will fill the need there.  

“We have districts reaching out to us asking, 'is it possible you have candidates for us, can you encourage student teachers to do it with us?'” said Meuwissen.  

Applications are now open for the 2024-25 school year. Anyone interested in teaching who has a bachelor’s degree can apply.