Teacher quality is critical.
Ultimately these funds will help to put more qualified teachers in the classroom. A clear focus of these grants is support efforts to reduce shortages of qualified teachers in high-need school districts. Every year, approximately 50,000 individuals teach on what are referred to as emergency certificates, which means they do not meet the standards the state has set for certification. In addition, numerous teachers teach subjects for which they lack adequate preparation, with fully one quarter of secondary school teachers lacking even a minor in their main teaching field. Grants such as this go a long way toward ensuring that teachers are well-prepared.