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Current requirements to participate in counseling and referral:
- Retired from active or reserved service
- Have at least six years of continuous active or reserve service
To be eligible for financial assistance:
- Participants must have at least six years of continuous active duty service or at least ten years in the reserves
- Participants must agree to serve in the reserves for three more years
- For the $5,000 stipend, participants have to teach in a school in a district where the poverty rate is at least 20 percent of the population or more.
- For the $10,000 bonus, participants have to teach in a school under the free or reduced lunch program.
Post 9/11 Troops to Teachers Enhancement Act
A new bill was introduced by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. on October 27, 2009 that would make the Troops to Teachers programs more accessible to members of the Armed Forces who served on active duty on or after September 11, 2001. The Post 9/11 Troops to Teachers Enhancement Act would:
- Allow any service member who has served at least 90 days of continuous active duty since Sept. 11, 2001 to be eligible for the program.
- Reduces the active duty service requirement to four years for those who have not served 90 days since Sept. 11, 2001.
- Extend the eligibility for the $5,000 stipend to any participant who agrees to teach three years in any school within a district receiving Title I funds, as defined in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
- Create an advisory board responsible for increasing participation and awareness of the program and ensuring the program meets the needs of schools and veterans.
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s1932/show
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/
Interview with William McAleer, chief of Troops to Teachers
WASHINGTON-When Lisa White left the U.S. Air Force after serving for eight years, she said it was difficult to adapt to the non-military life.
“The military community is a tight-knit community and we look out for each other,” White said. “When you go back to the civilian world, it’s almost like you get thrown into the dogs. You don’t have someone necessarily watching your back.”
White decided to pursue her college degree and then recreate the spirit of camaraderie she felt in the military in a public school classroom. She enrolled in Troops to Teachers, a program that assists former and retired military to transition to a career as public school teachers. Robert Henry is the program’s coordinator for the D.C. and Maryland region. He said service members make effective educators.
“They are bringing leadership skills that have been practiced,” Henry said. “They know how to work with their peers, younger people and with seniority. They are used to working with a very diverse population.”
Funded by the Department of Education and administered by the Department of Defense, Troops to Teachers has placed more than 10,000 former and retired military in public schools across the nation. Henry said that the program aims to answer two calls -one of veterans and one of students of low-income families.
“Everybody [service members] comes to the table with different sets of skills somewhere else on the time line,” Henry said. “We help guide them, counsel them and provide resources for them so that they can impart their knowledge to America’s youth.”
White agrees.
“I like to believe that I teach my kids more than math and science,” White said. “We also have to look out for each other. I always tell them that.”
To enroll in the program six years of active duty is required. Troops to Teachers also provides stipends up to $5,000 to help pay for certification.