Teach Chicago Tomorrow Kicks Off Fourth Recruitment Cycle

CHICAGO— Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on Wednesday will welcome nearly 300 high school students considering the teaching profession to a Teach Chicago Tomorrow College Access Fair, kicking off the fourth cycle of this innovative program to recruit educators – by recruiting the top high school students.

“Teach Chicago Tomorrow is committed to developing homegrown talent,” said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. “The District and our partners invest a tremendous amount of resources so students can serve the District as the next generation of educators, which fosters a cycle of excellence in our school communities.”

Teach Chicago Tomorrow partners with local colleges and universities. The College Access Fair takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at Malcolm X, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, and aims to help more CPS graduates return to the classroom as teachers.

Since 2020, 177 scholars have joined Teach Chicago Tomorrow. Last year's cohort was 90 percent students of color, 60 percent low-income, 63 percent first-generation college students, and 80 percent hailed from high schools on the city’s South and West sides. Teach Chicago Tomorrow hopes to welcome the largest cohort in history this fall.

“Teach Chicago Tomorrow empowers our students to become the next generation of CPS teachers,” said CPS Chief Talent Officer Ben Felton. “Teach Chicago Tomorrow, and other cutting-edge initiatives of the District, are creating a comprehensive system of support for supporting our students to become future educators, and the District is already starting to see results.”

Colleges, universities, and partners from across the state and country will be on site at Malcolm X College during today's college fair to offer resources and guidance to more than 300 students from nearly a dozen schools.

As of the first day of school this year, the District had a record number of teachers— 21,200–more than at any other time in history. This school year, 47 percent of new CPS teachers identify as Black or Latinx, up from 33 percent in 2017, and 58 percent of new CPS teachers identify as teachers of color, up from 38 percent in 2017.

Teach Chicago Tomorrow partners with colleges and universities in Chicago. There is a 2+2 pathway where scholars study for two years at City Colleges and two years at either Roosevelt University, Northeastern Illinois University, or Illinois State University. There is also a four-year pathway where scholars study at either Northeastern Illinois University, Illinois State University, or the University of Illinois Chicago. All Teach Chicago Tomorrow scholars have the opportunity to be placed into a paid internship and into a full-time role as a teacher in the District upon graduation.

“Teach Chicago Tomorrow is providing me with many different opportunities and useful experiences that connect and prepare me for my future teaching career,” said Luke Jackson, a freshman at Truman College and a recent graduate of Bogan High School on the Southwest side. “I want to teach kindergarten because you get to make a big impression on students who are that age.”

Teach Chicago Tomorrow is part of a suite of programs the District offers to recruit teachers who reflect the demographics of the students the District serves. The District’s flagship Teacher Residency Program is a paid training program for both career changers and first-time professionals to become full-time teachers and the P-STEP (Pre-Service Teaching Project) Program, which offers supports to pre-service educators. Applications for the next Teach Chicago Tomorrow cohort are open now.

Read more about Teach Chicago Tomorrow Scholars on the District’s blog.

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About Chicago Public Schools (CPS)
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is dedicated to providing a high-quality education to all students, beginning with the District’s free full-day preschool programming for four-year-old scholars and continuing through neighborhood, magnet, and selective-enrollment elementary schools that provide a rigorous K-8 education with schools that specialize in the fine arts, world language and culture, dual language, STEM, International Baccalaureate (IB), classical programs, and more. The rising District-wide freshmen-on-track and high school graduation rates reflect the hard work of the CPS community, including families, staff, and students across 635 schools. CPS celebrates the diversity of its more than 322,000 students, who cite 182 home languages. Learn more about CPS at www.cps.edu and connect with CPS on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.