State Policy

We believe that in order to influence their state’s education policies, teachers must be in the rooms with policymakers engaged in conversations about their students’ and their own lived experiences, their challenges, and the solutions.

Teach Plus teacher leaders seek out what school communities need, bring evidence-based solutions to the table, and deliver policy changes at the state level for their students and families. Below are highlights of the policy wins in 2022.

Policy Wins

Arkansas

Teach Plus Executive Director and 2019 Arkansas Teacher of the Year Stacey McAdoo served as a member of a state task force that authored a new Educator Preparation Program State Review Tool, informed by Teach Plus teacher leaders, which will be used to evaluate all preparation programs in the state to ensure that teaching candidates are day-one ready.

California

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law legislation aligned with the recommendations Teach Plus teacher leaders outlined in their policy brief, “Preparing All Educators to Teach Every Student to Read: Recommendations from Teach Plus California Policy Fellows.” The legislation updates how reading and literacy are taught within teacher preparation programs, while maintaining California’s high standards and ensuring assessments are rooted in the science of foundational reading skills. It also aims to hold preparation programs accountable by requiring the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to ensure that its standards of program quality and effectiveness for the preparation of candidates include all of the relevant requirements for literacy instruction.

Colorado

In Colorado, Teach Plus teacher leaders concluded a multi-year advocacy effort to transform teacher evaluation and help create supportive learning environments across the state. After three years of engaging their peers, district leaders, and policymakers, Colorado teachers saw Gov. Jared Polis sign legislation which directly reflects their recommendations for a teacher evaluation system that streamlines and differentiates the process for consistently highly effective educators; focuses on development and training, including training for evaluators; incorporates innovative methods of observation; and continues to incorporate student data in a meaningful way.

Illinois

In Illinois, Teach Plus teacher leaders’ advocacy has contributed to an increase of $2.3 million in the 2023 state budget for the Minority Teachers of Illinois (MTI) Scholarship to attract more teaching candidates of color to high-need schools. The increased funding will make possible a larger number of scholarships with increased annual award amounts that are focused on qualified bilingual minority applicants.

Indiana

In Indiana,  in response to legislation (HB1134) that would have increased teacher workloads, limited the scope and rigor of instruction, hindered social-emotional support for students, and resulted in increased teacher attrition, Teach Plus teacher leaders first designed effective messages to reach their peers, policymakers, and the public. Then, the teachers used these messages to mobilize a large network of supporters and to design an advocacy strategy they knew would be effective—including meeting with over 30 legislators, communicating through formal and informal networks and outlets, and bringing teacher voices to collective action in coalitions. Their efforts, alongside partners across the state, resulted in the ultimate failure of the legislation.

Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, Teach Plus teacher leaders advised Boston’s new Mayor Michelle Wu, and informed new Gov. Maura Healey’s administration, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Board of Early Education and Care on issues ranging from teacher preparation and diversity to early childhood education.

Michigan

In Michigan, Teach Plus, in partnership with The Education Trust-Midwest, mobilized to remove language from the state budget that has historically been used to cut funding from low-income students first during a budget shortfall. The teachers published op-eds, executed a social media campaign, and called on their legislators to guarantee the much-needed per-pupil funding. In February, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer struck the loophole from her 2022-23 budget proposal, taking the next step toward educational equity.

Mississippi

In March 2022, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law a historic pay raise, increasing the state’s average teacher pay by about $5,100 per year, or more than 10 percent. For Teach Plus and Teach Plus teacher leaders across Mississippi, this win was a culmination of a two-year advocacy campaign that encompassed meetings with legislators; the #RaiseMSTeacherPay social media campaign to highlight stories of teachers taking on second and third jobs to make ends meet; and a policy brief, “Securing Pay Raises that Matter: Recommendation from Teach Plus Mississippi Policy Fellows,” with recommendations based on feedback of more than 1,900 Mississippi teachers’ about pay, op-eds, and interviews with the media.

Nevada

In Nevada, Teach Plus Nevada teacher leaders used their agency and platform to bring students, families, and educators together to engage in community discussions about what they most need and want from Nevada’s educational institutions. During a community panel series focused on Indigenous voices, representatives of Native American communities shared what is most important for their educational experiences. Among teacher leaders’ recommendations for policymakers: Design an accessible, living curriculum and hold brave spaces and create opportunities to connect tribes and bands with local school communities.

New Mexico

In New Mexico, Teach Plus and Teach Plus teacher leaders spotlighted a range of innovative practices and approaches happening in schools across the state that are helping to improve educational outcomes for students. By focusing on creative models of teaching and learning and encouraging districts to follow suit, the teachers hope to build a more equitable system for all of New Mexico’s students.

Pennsylvania

In June 2022, the Pennsylvania General Assembly approved the 2022-23 budget package which includes a historic, bipartisan increase of over $1 billion in education funding, the largest ever investment in education in state history. The budget addresses all of the critical priorities Teach Plus teacher leaders brought to policymakers, including targeted measures to address teacher shortages, diversify the educator workforce, and improve reading instruction. The 2022-2023 budget also includes a $100 million increase in special education funding, $70 million in new pre-K funding, and $225 million for the Level Up equity supplement, which accelerates resources to the 100 most underfunded school districts. In one of his final public appearances in his role, outgoing Secretary of Education Eric Hagarty told Teach Plus teacher leaders, “The Level Up program would not exist without Teach Plus … None of these wins would have happened without your advocacy.”

Texas

In Texas, Teach Plus staff and teacher leaders are working to address statewide staffing concerns as part of the Texas Education Agency’s Teacher Vacancy Task Force (TVTF). Teach Plus staff has worked alongside the agency to select the teacher participants and to facilitate bi-monthly meetings of the task force. Six Teach Plus teacher leaders—including Teach Plus Policy Fellowship alumnus and 2021 Texas Teacher of the Year Eric Hale—are serving on the TVTF, and it is chaired by Teach Plus Policy Fellowship alumnus Josue Tamarez Torres. The TVTF report to the governor and the Texas Legislature includes recommendations on key issues such as teacher compensation, mentoring for new teachers, high-quality instructional materials, teacher leadership, and other issues affecting the teaching profession.