Nevada program Aims to Cultivate Future Teachers, Prioritizing Students in underserved โSchools
LAS โฃVEGAS, NV – A new Nevada program is offering high school students a pathway to becoming โฃteachers with full tuition reimbursement, contingent on future service in the state’s public schools.The initiative, born from aโค desire to address teacher shortages and increase diversity withinโ the profession, specifically targets students inโ Title I โขschools,โ providing opportunitiesโค frequently enough unavailable to them.
Theโค program’s origins lie in a fact-finding mission โled โคby Clark County Schoolโ District (CCSD) Deputy Superintendent Mike pearson. “I reached out to โฃthose schools to say, ‘What do you have here that โฃis going so โขwell, and how โฃcan we duplicate what you’re โขdoing in other schools, specifically in our Title I buildings โwhere the students don’t have the same type of opportunities?'” Pearson said.
Currently implemented at Mojave High School,with optional expansion to otherโ districts,the programโข requires student participation for a minimum of two years. Uponโข graduation, participants who commit to teaching โคin a Nevada public school for at โคleast three yearsโ willโ have their college tuition fully reimbursed. Alternatively, a third of tuition isโ reimbursed for each year of service.
The Nevada legislature allocated $10 million to the Office of the Stateโ Treasurerโค for tuitionโ abatement through Assembly โขBillโ 428 (AB428). Toโค qualify for reimbursement, โstudents must complete the Free Submission for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which requires a โSocial Security โฃnumber.
The program provides students with practical, hands-on experience. Daniela Gutierrez, a student at Mojave High School,โข interns at Raul P. Elizondo โElementary School, lessโ than a mile โฃfrom her high school, assistingโ third-grade โขteacher Joy Ammogawen. Gutierrez is gaining experience in classroom management and student engagement. “I felt so special to โbe 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.โฃ She acknowledges the challenges of the profession, such as managing disruptive behavior, but remainsโ steadfast in herโฃ ambition โto become an elementary school teacher. “I’m not interested inโ doing anything else,” Gutierrez stated. “There’s nothing elseโค that moves me.”
Sierra Whittemore, a teacher at Mojave High School and a CCSDโ graduate herself, oversees the program and emphasizes its core โขgoal: “The overarching goal is to really โgrow and mold our students to be the teachers โthey โneed to then come back and serve their community. Whenโ you have teachers that are reflectiveโฃ of the community โthey teach, it is so much more impactful than โคwhen you’reโ just plopping in a random person thatโค has no ties to anything.”
The Clark County Education Association (CCEA) is also contributing to โฃthe program’s success, pledging $2 million through the 2026-2027 school year toโค support students at Mojave, Desert Pines,โฃ Eldorado, and Western High Schools.โ This support includes assistance with class fees and tutoring. Pearson โขbelieves the program will provide “working-class kids” with “an prospect for upward mobility,” adding, “They deserveโ thatโค opportunity.”