TWIGGS COUNTY, Ga. — Taylor Bradford is a paraprofessional at Jeffersonville Elementary in Twiggs County. In January of 2022, Bradford started pursuing a degree in elementary education with a focus on special education in hopes of becoming a teacher.
"I felt like it was time for me to take that next step," Bradford said.
Little did she know The Georgia Department of Education would give more than $2.4 million in grants to help rural paraprofessionals become teachers in 75 school districts.
Twiggs County Schools was allocated $60,000, which will help paraprofessionals get the degrees and certifications they need to become full-fledged teachers.
"The grant covers the spring, summer and fall of 2023," said Shannon Dotsikas, director of human resources at Twiggs County Schools.
Dotsikas says it also covers the spring of 2024. The paraprofessional just needs to complete the semester and provide a transcript.
"They also provide us with a list of classes they taken along with a tuition bill. That lets us know they've been in school. We then submit that to the D.O.E and they in turn reimburse us, so we can reimburse the para-pro up to $1,500 per semester," Dotsikas said.
Dotsikas says that the funds help the school deal with some of the recruiting difficulties the Twiggs County Schools and other rural schools face.
"As a rural district we often will struggle a little more trying to find those teachers just because we compete with larger districts" explained Dotsikas.
This grant comes at a time when more schools need teachers across the nation. This makes it a little easier for passionate educators like Bradford to become a teacher.
"It provides me with more of a financial support. My family doesn't feel the burden of helping pay for college," says Bradford.