AASA-Endorsed HERE Act Introduced

On Thursday, April 7, Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced the Hispanic Educational Resources and Empowerment (HERE) Act. The bipartisan, bicameral bill creates a new grant program to support partnerships and collaboration between Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and school districts with high enrollments of Hispanic and Latino students. Among the activities allowed for the partnerships is the creation of Grow Your Own programs to encourage students to pursue careers in education and provide pathways into the teacher workforce.

The inclusion of Grow Your Own programs in the HERE Act will not only help to address the overall teacher shortages but also increase diversity among the teacher workforce by investing in Hispanic-serving institutions. AASA is excited to endorse the HERE Act and support programs aimed at building a diverse, high-quality pipeline of future educators. Read the full press release here.