A Funding Guide to More Diverse Schools in California

Introduction

This funding guide highlights allocations and grants for individual applicants and organizational entities to support and increase educator diversity.

The guide consists of three sections:

Section I highlights allocations and grants for individual applicants (e.g., prospective teachers, teacher candidates, or current teachers).

Section II outlines allocations and grants for organizational entities (e.g., local education agencies, school districts, & county offices of education).

Section III features allocations that support professional development for teachers.

Recommendations for the state are offered in the Appendix.

State Policy Recommendations

Prioritize educator diversity from the outset. State agencies should prioritize directing funds to districts and counties committed to addressing and countering hate, bigotry, bias, and prejudice. The state should also encourage grant recipients to use these state funds to promote educator diversity within their schools and districts.
Promote these funding opportunities throughout California. Educators of color must be made aware of these opportunities and how to access them. We recommend that state agencies administering the programs above widely distribute promotional materials (brochures, videos) and host events (panels, webinars) that provide prospective and current teacher candidates, classroom teachers, and administrators information about these funds. These promotional materials should be designed to ensure representation of diverse adults and students when using visuals. Additionally, we urge the state to create communities of practice by documenting and disseminating information about how counties and districts are using these funds, with the intention of fostering dialogue about the critical importance of educator diversity and increasing the resources available to support the work.
Create evaluation systems.We must ensure that educators of color are not only aware of these funds but are receiving them directly. CDE should periodically monitor and evaluate these programs to ensure educators of color have equitable access to these funds and that programs are equitably benefiting educators of color. CDE should verify that teachers of color are represented in the applicant pool and amongst the grantees.

Related Work

The California Educator Diversity Project Recruiting, Preparing, Developing & Retaining Educators of Color: A Remedy for Improving Educational Opportunity & Promoting Educational Justice

Voices from the Classroom: Developing a Strategy for Teacher Retention and Recruitment

A Funding Guide to More Diverse Schools in California 2022-23