Grants seek to attract teachers
March 16, 2005

By Deborah Hirsch

Scholarships in works for students who would return home to teach

Backers of a developing education foundation in Lancaster County hope to soon start awarding $5,000 college scholarships to students who promise to return home to teach in local schools.

The initial goal is to award nine scholarships through the foundation, which would fund the program with donations and proceeds from an endowment. Students are eligible to get a maximum of $5,000 over four years but must commit to teach in Lancaster schools for as many years as they received the scholarship.

"Getting teachers is a major challenge," especially in "critical area" subjects such as math, science and special education, said Rod Spaulding, a consultant from Charleston whom the district hired for a year to set up the foundation. "It's a problem with every school district across the country."

The scholarship details are still being worked out, Spaulding said, but students might be asked to periodically work with a local class during their time at school or report back to the donor of their scholarship.

"That not only helps us with our recruitment but it keeps them connected" to the county, he said.

In addition to the scholarships, Lancaster's "Partners for Youth" foundation will help schools apply for federal grants and create grants for local programs.

"These would be things that would be beyond the scope of the normal funding process for the school district," said Superintendent Pat Burns.

Burns proposed creating the foundation a couple of years ago after noticing how they had helped school districts in other cities around the south.

Local education foundations became more prevalent in the 1970s and are growing increasingly common. At least 3,000 foundations support public schools around the country, according to the Public Education Network in Washington, D.C.

York County schools have benefited from local foundations, too. The York school district does not have one, but independent groups in Clover and Rock Hill have been around since the 1980s. The Rock Hill School District Foundation, for example, has raised $200,000 in grants for the city's teachers since the organization was formed in 1989. And like Lancaster, Fort Mill is in the process of forming the Foundation for Fort Mill Schools. The goal is to publicly launch the foundation in August, said Chuck Epps, a district assistant superintendent.

Lancaster already has at least four foundations that funnel some money to education. Having one focused on education, though, will give schools more leverage when applying for federal grants, Spaulding said. The foundation could also help schools figure out what they need to do to become recognized as a school of excellence in a particular area and then apply for a grant to get the supplies or training needed to reach those standards.

But before foundation organizers can start distributing money, they have to collect it. The foundation was given legal status this week, so it can start to take in unofficial pledges from business owners, Spaulding said. There will also be a campaign soliciting $10 donations from individuals that is scheduled to kick off this summer, he said. For more information on the foundation, or making donations, call (803) 286-6972.