School of Education summer academy to complement Pittsburgh Promise’s Advancing Educators of Color scholarship

The Pittsburgh Promise this week announced plans to launch the Advancing Educators of Color (AEC) scholarship, with the goal of adding 35 Black educators to the Pittsburgh Public School (PPS) system in the next seven years.

The University of Pittsburgh School of Education will complement the program and position those students for success by providing a paid summer program before scholars enroll in their first year at the college of their choice.

“The importance of Black educators cannot be overstated,” said Valerie Kinloch, Professor and Renée and Richard Goldman Endowed Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Education.

“Research shows that Black teachers are undeniably successful at improving the overall well-being and academic and nonacademic engagements of Black children and youth, which increases high school graduation rates and the likelihood of college attendance. However, statewide, Black educators comprise less than 4% of the teacher population in K-12 public and charter schools. By undertaking new efforts to recruit, retain and support Black educators, we will be able to ignite learning, transform education and uncover the genius, joy and love that already exist within all of our students.”

The Pittsburgh Promise provides up to $20,000 in scholarships for college, trade or technical school education to eligible PPS graduates who attend post-secondary institutions in the state of Pennsylvania.

The AEC program was conceptualized and funded by Debra Kline Demchak, secretary of The Pittsburgh Promise board of directors, and William S. Demchak, president, chairman and chief executive officer of PNC Financial Services Group. The scholarship will provide an additional final-dollar college scholarship for selected students who train to be educators, pursue their teaching certificate and teach in the PPS for at least five years following graduation.

Pitt Education, which currently offers graduate-level teacher education programs, will start a Bachelor of Science in Teacher Education program in fall 2023.