Michigan lures teachers to inner cities with $16.7M program

Francis X. Donnelly / The Detroit News

Michigan will be one of the first states to participate in a national program that overhauls the training of math and science teachers and encourages them to work in urban schools with the biggest problems.

Through a program unveiled Friday and run by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, students would have their master's degree training in teaching paid for if they agree to teach for three years in an urban area.

"Having enough great teachers shouldn't depend on where a child lives," said Mike Flanagan, the state's superintendent of public instruction. "This program will help heal that disparity."

Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced the initiative Friday that also includes working with six Michigan colleges to change the way they prepare students for jobs as secondary school teachers.

The colleges, which haven't been selected yet, will be named in January.

The foundation wants the colleges' education departments to work with the math and science departments to develop courses for a master's degree in education. It also wants the prospective teachers to get hands-on experience in secondary schools early in their training rather than at the end of it.

"We want to keep young people here, young scientists and young mathematicians," Granholm said at a press conference at the Detroit Science Center.

She said the improved training would help the state as it changes its economy to one based more on technology.

Alexis Smith and Semaj Peterson said they liked what they heard about the new initiatives.

The teens attended Friday's announcement along with dozens of classmates from University Prep Science and Math Middle School.

The duo said they love science class and a big reason is their teacher.

"Some teachers don't take the time to help you," said Peterson, 15. "She breaks it down for you."

She said she likes the idea of a phalanx of similar-minded teachers roaming the classes of Detroit middle and high schools.

Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson foundation, said it's absolutely critical to improve the training of teachers.

"Research has shown again and again that the most important element in a student's success is the teacher," he said.

Taking a page from the military ROTC program, prospective teachers would receive a $30,000 stipend for the cost of receiving their master's degree. In return, they must agree to teach in an urban school.

Such spots are critical because it's hard to attract teachers to middle and high schools in bigger cities, Flanagan said.

The program will produce 240 teachers during its five years, with the first group selected in 2011. An independent review will be held at the end of the five-year program to determine its effectiveness.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, based in Battle Creek, is funding the initiative with a $16.7 million grant.

The first state to participate in the program was Indiana in 2007.

Friday's announcement wasn't the only good news Michigan's schools received this week.

Earlier this week, the Ford Foundation announced Detroit was one of seven cities to benefit from a $100 million initiative to improve education at urban schools.

The seven-year program will seek and fund projects that improve schools in various ways, including financing, teaching, accountability and improving learning time.

The other cities that will benefit from the program are New York; Newark, N.J.; Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Denver.

Luis Ubinas, president of the Ford Foundation, said the program will help urban schools, whose educational opportunities have been hurt by a gap with suburban schools.

"Improving our schools benefits all of us," he said. "With this initiative we want to shake up the conversations surrounding school reform."

Dr. Jeannie Oakes, director of Educational Opportunity and Scholarship at the Ford Foundation, concurred.

"The four areas of reform (being focused on) are widely recognized as having the potential to make a significant difference in the education of all students," she said.

fdonnelly@detnews.com (313) 223-4186