Serving the community since 1903
VOLUME 121 | ISSUE 31
WEEK OF AUGUST 1, 2024
CHAINSAW ARTISTS
Sculptors compete at Chainsaws and Chuckwagons P4
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State boosts new teacher recruiting Stipends are meant to help address teacher shortage BY MELANIE ASMAR CHALKBEAT COLORADO
Colorado is seeking new applicants for a program that aims to address Colorado’s teacher shortage by providing stipends of up to $10,000 to educators teaching under alternative licenses while earning degrees. Called the Educator Recruitment and Retention Financial Assistance Program, the program began in the 2021-22 school year with 80 educators, who agreed to work in rural school districts for three years as a condition of receiving the stipend. In 2022, state lawmakers expanded the program to include educators all over Colorado, not just in rural districts. Participation exploded to 749 educators in 2022-23 and held fairly steady this past school year with an unofficial count of about 700 educators, according to a Colorado Department of Education spokesperson. Nearly a quarter of the 749 educators who got the stipend in 2022-23 were educators of color, according to a state report. Just 16% of Colorado’s educators are people of color, according to state data. SEE RECRUITING, P13
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TRAFFIC PATTERNS
How Metro Denver’s streets got their names
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