Ashley Canto, a teacher at Central High School in Bridgeport, expressed a sense of pride when sharing that she recently graduated from a teacher residency program at Sacred Heart University, called Teachers@Heart.
The program equips undergraduate students with the various skills needed to foster a successful career as a teacher, specializing in working with students in high-need school districts, where , such as Bridgeport and Stamford.
Canto was disappointed to learn that the U.S. Department of Education recently withdrew more than $3 million in federal funding to the program through the
She called it a 鈥渉eartbreaking鈥� loss that will largely affect teacher retention and burnout in urban settings.
鈥淓specially in Bridgeport, we have a [substitute teacher] shortage,鈥� Canto said. 鈥淧eople are out, and we have kids going to the cafeteria because we don鈥檛 have enough people to cover classrooms.鈥�
The U.S. Department of Education informed the university through a letter in February that the Teachers@Heart program no longer met the goals of the department, according to Ren茅 Roselle, the program's principal investigator.
Roselle said the letter included mention of recent DEI cutbacks from the Trump Administration.
The revocation in funding comes amid increasing student interest in the Teachers@Heart program.
From Jan. 13 to March 3, at least 125 people expressed interest in the program, according to Roselle. She says this is the highest level of interest in teacher education she has seen in 20 years.
In the program, student residents are introduced to a class of students at the beginning of the academic year, presented as a co-teacher alongside a teacher mentor.
Beginning in January, student residents take over the classroom full-time.
鈥淭he residency program prepares you a lot better because you are alongside your mentor teacher on day one in the classroom,鈥� said recent program graduate Matthew Librandi.
鈥淏y the time the winter rolls around 鈥� you鈥檝e already been in the classroom with the kids, you built relationships that [in] traditional student teaching you don鈥檛 get to experience,鈥� Librandi said.
Librandi currently teaches seventh grade at Jettie S. Tisdale Middle School in Bridgeport.
Sacred Heart still has plans to run Teachers@Heart, but without the grant, Roselle said the school can only provide 鈥渓imited district funded stipends and tuition support, which will make the program unfeasible for most.鈥�
Along with assistance on teacher retention, the Teacher Quality Partnership grant provided tuition benefits and a living stipend, which covers food, housing and other basic expenses for participants.
Librandi and Roselle said these inclusions allow teacher residents to better focus on their career preparation without having to worry about other expenses.
Canto told her students about Teachers@Heart and recommended it to anyone pursuing education in college. After hearing the news of its funding cut, one of Canto鈥檚 students asked if the program would be unavailable to her in the future.
鈥淚t鈥檚 getting people interested in their future, but also, like, you really can鈥檛 replace the experience it gives you,鈥� Canto said.
Without this grant, Librandi believes many potential teachers will be deterred from the profession.
鈥淣ot having that [support] is going to make teaching less attractive to many people,鈥� he said.
Librandi and Canto agree that it is important to foster young educators into these under-supported environments. Librandi thinks high-need districts are a great place to learn teaching through multifaceted experiences.
Teachers@Heart program was created in 2019 and launched its first student cohort in Bridgeport in 2021. Last year, it expanded to Stamford Public Schools with a program called Para Pioneers.
It addressed high-need areas in Stamford schools such as special education, science and math, adding that the district just started to gain momentum.
Charmaine Tourse-Davis, director of talent, recruitment and retention at Stamford Public Schools, called the cuts to federal funding, 鈥渆specially disappointing.鈥�
鈥淲hen you have that kind of a model, I can tell you that it was quite a blow,鈥� Tourse-Davis said.
Since President Donald Trump took office, more than 1,300 U.S. Department of Education workers have been .
鈥淭his leaves the department to roughly half of its workforce, which is responsible for enforcing civil rights laws in schools, supplying student loans and grants and tracking student achievement,鈥� .
Currently, Teachers@Heart is seeking alternative funders to keep the program alive. The program鈥檚 that matches donations dollar-for-dollar.
Roselle said the grant allotted 20 teaching spots in the program.
Without a funding cut, Teachers@Heart would have assisted 80 new teachers enter the profession in the next five years.
