January 29, 2025
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PT
California, like many states, faces persistent teacher shortages. School districts struggle to fill vacancies with fully credentialed teachers, often relying on underprepared or substitute teachers, increasing class sizes, or cutting courses. To address these challenges, California has invested more than $1 billion to strengthen the teacher workforce, with a focus on increasing teacher supply in shortage areas, improving affordability and access to teacher preparation, and incentivizing skilled teachers to work in high-need schools. Data show that these programs are gaining traction; unfortunately, they rely on one-time funding that is nearing expiration, prompting critical questions: Are these investments effectively addressing much-needed teacher workforce development, and do they remain essential in today’s context?
This event will bring together education leaders, policymakers, and practitioners to consider these questions and will provide an opportunity to hear about LPI’s new report, Tackling Teacher Shortages: What We Know About California’s Teacher Workforce Investments.
Speakers
- David Alvarez, California Assemblymember, District 80
- Desiree Carver-Thomas, Senior Researcher, Learning Policy Institute
- Cheryl Cotton, Deputy Superintendent, California Department of Education
- Linda Darling-Hammond, President and CEO, Learning Policy Institute; President, California State Board of Education
- Annamarie M. Francois, Associate Dean, UCLA School of Education & Information Studies
- Daisy Gonzales, Executive Director, California Student Aid Commission
- Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, Chair, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing
- Tara Kini, Chief of Policy and Programs, Learning Policy Institute
- Leslie Littman, Vice President, California Teachers Association
- Kai Mathews, Executive Director, Urban Ed Academy
- Efrain Mercado, Director of California Policy, Learning Policy Institute
- Al Muratsuchi, California Assemblymember, District 66
- Mary Vixie Sandy, Executive Director, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing
- Natalie Wheatfall-Lum, Director of TK-12 Policy, EdTrust-West
- Melissa Eiler White, Senior Advisor, Research and Policy, WestEd
Please RSVP by January 24, 2025. Registration is required and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration will close on January 24, 2025 or when full.
Questions? Please contact [email protected].
