Is your school planning or implementing methods to increase its STEM teacher reimbursement funding in future years? If not, now’s the time to begin. There are several methods that can be highly effective to increase your number of reimbursable STEM teachers. Following is a list of some of those ways.
Do any of your STEM-subject teachers not hold an NYS teaching certification or a Masters in Education or a STEM subject? If not, enroll them in a low-cost, online Masters program in a STEM subject or education. Once they graduate from the program, they will immediately become reimbursable. Better yet, if any STEM-subject teacher already holds a Bachelors in Education or a STEM subject, that teacher will become eligible for reimbursement immediately upon enrollment in such a graduate program.
For all STEM-subject teachers you plan to hire, seek candidates that already meet reimbursement eligibility criteria. By filling vacant roles with eligible teachers, you’ll be ensuring that a large portion of any new teacher’s salary will be reimbursed to you by NYSED. Such hiring practices will drastically reduce your operating costs in the long run.
Last, you may want to consider removing religious instruction responsibilities from STEM teachers. If an otherwise eligible STEM teacher teaches any religious class, that teacher becomes ineligible for reimbursement for that entire school year. Review your STEM teachers’ individual schedules, and if you discover any teachers teaches 1-2 religious courses, discuss with them the possibility of them no longer teaching those courses in the upcoming school year. Those teachers would then be eligible for reimbursement next year.
Following any of these methods will help you increase your STEM reimbursement. Please be in touch with Teach NYS staff and attend our webinars to learn more about implementing these strategies.