Nevada program Aims to Cultivate Future Teachers, Prioritizing Students in underserved Schools
LAS VEGAS, NV – A new Nevada program is offering high school students a pathway to becoming teachers with full tuition reimbursement, contingent on future service in the state’s public schools.The initiative, born from a desire to address teacher shortages and increase diversity within the profession, specifically targets students in Title I schools, providing opportunities frequently enough unavailable to them.
The program’s origins lie in a fact-finding mission led by Clark County School District (CCSD) Deputy Superintendent Mike pearson. “I reached out to those schools to say, ‘What do you have here that is going so well, and how can we duplicate what you’re doing in other schools, specifically in our Title I buildings where the students don’t have the same type of opportunities?'” Pearson said.
Currently implemented at Mojave High School,with optional expansion to other districts,the program requires student participation for a minimum of two years. Upon graduation, participants who commit to teaching in a Nevada public school for at least three years will have their college tuition fully reimbursed. Alternatively, a third of tuition is reimbursed for each year of service.
The Nevada legislature allocated $10 million to the Office of the State Treasurer for tuition abatement through Assembly Bill 428 (AB428). To qualify for reimbursement, students must complete the Free Submission for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which requires a Social Security number.
The program provides students with practical, hands-on experience. Daniela Gutierrez, a student at Mojave High School, interns at Raul P. Elizondo Elementary School, less than a mile from her high school, assisting third-grade teacher Joy Ammogawen. Gutierrez is gaining experience in classroom management and student engagement. “I felt so special to be there to be assisting them on how to do it and them asking me for help,” she said, recalling a positive experience helping students during a test. She acknowledges the challenges of the profession, such as managing disruptive behavior, but remains steadfast in her ambition to become an elementary school teacher. “I’m not interested in doing anything else,” Gutierrez stated. “There’s nothing else that moves me.”
Sierra Whittemore, a teacher at Mojave High School and a CCSD graduate herself, oversees the program and emphasizes its core goal: “The overarching goal is to really grow and mold our students to be the teachers they need to then come back and serve their community. When you have teachers that are reflective of the community they teach, it is so much more impactful than when you’re just plopping in a random person that has no ties to anything.”
The Clark County Education Association (CCEA) is also contributing to the program’s success, pledging $2 million through the 2026-2027 school year to support students at Mojave, Desert Pines, Eldorado, and Western High Schools. This support includes assistance with class fees and tutoring. Pearson believes the program will provide “working-class kids” with “an prospect for upward mobility,” adding, “They deserve that opportunity.”