Teachers and educators are leaving the classroom at higher-than-average rates, citing post-pandemic burnout, low salaries, and student debt, and the number of new educators isn’t keeping pace. An expanded pool of teachers, principals, and superintendents is needed to maintain or improve classroom outcomes.
The Empowerment Through Education Scholarship Program, which provides significant funding for Penn Graduate School of Education students enrolled in the Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership and the Urban Teaching Apprentice Program (UTAP), is helping to fill that need. Intended to create opportunities for educators, the scholarships are awarded to future teachers and educational leaders who demonstrate a longstanding commitment to serving marginalized populations.
“The Empowerment Through Education Scholarship Program advances Penn GSE’s longstanding commitment to access and inclusion. It also strengthens our efforts to train the next generation of educators who have devoted their careers to addressing the systemic challenges facing our nation’s schools,” says Katharine O. Strunk, dean of GSE.
Removing a barrier to becoming a teacher
Mark Comesañas, an Empowerment Scholarship recipient, is a first-year student in the Mid-Career Doctoral Program. One weekend each month and a single week each summer, he drives from his home in Newark, New Jersey, to GSE. Comesañas, who is married and has three children, is also working full-time as the executive director of My Brother’s Keeper Newark, an initiative that uplifts boys and young men of color by creating new pathways for continuing education, job training, and employment. “Growing professionally shouldn’t be left to chance,” says Comesañas. “It takes something very special for me to be studying and sacrificing on the weekends.”
For Comesañas, the Empowerment Scholarship makes his enrollment possible. “Good teachers and principals can change the course of a student’s life,” says Allison Blitzer, who is also a member of the GSE Board of Advisors. “These scholarships are removing barriers to educational excellence by easing the financial burden for GSE students who are committed to working in underserved communities.”
“One of the biggest barriers to becoming an educator is the price of preparation,” adds Patrick Sexton, executive director for Teacher Education Programs at GSE.
Danielle Machado has also benefitted from an Empowerment Scholarship. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Machado came to the U.S. as an au pair and speaks fluent Portuguese, English, and Spanish. Her yearlong experience in the UTAP program has been intense and rewarding. She spends weekdays at the Joseph W. Catharine School in Southwest Philadelphia as a first-grade apprentice teacher and evenings in class.
“For half of my students, English isn’t their first language,” says Machado. “I’m able to connect with them and can already see the impact I’m having. They view me as their future—a professional who speaks English with an accent.” When Machado graduates in May 2024, she hopes to have a teaching job lined up for the fall.
While these scholarships serve educators, kids see the real benefit. “My first-grade students are curious, but they face enormous challenges,” says Machado. “They are six and seven years old and many have endured devastating hardships already.”
“Think about a teacher like Danielle,” says Sexton. “If she stays in education for 20 years and teaches 30 kids a year, her preparation and impact will pay exponential returns.”
A $3 million gift in 2021 from alumni Allison and David Blitzer established the program. Now enrolling its third cohort of scholars, the Empowerment Through Education Scholarship Program aims to build a diverse, robust, and talented community of educators and leaders who will be positioned to reframe education in the 21st century, especially in underserved communities.
This story is adapted from a piece first published in Knowledge for Good, March 13, 2024.
