Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Pedro Martinez, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates and community members Monday night honored 193 new resident teachers who will lead classrooms next fall through an innovative CPS program that helps current employees or career changers, earn the educational degrees, credentials, and on-the-job experience needed to become CPS teachers. The 2024 inductees represent the program’s largest cohort to date. The CPS Teacher Residency, launched in 2017, is a full-time, paid, teacher training program that offers a pathway to teaching for professionals who wish to pursue a new career in education as well as paraprofessionals who work in classroom support roles and want to become full-time teachers leading a classroom. This year, 52 residents are Black and 67 residents are Latinx. This program focuses on recruiting and training candidates who can fill high-need teaching positions, with 67 percent of this year’s residents eligible to teach special education, 27 percent eligible to teach early childhood education and 25 percent eligible to teach bilingual education. The District anticipates the Teacher Residency program will grow to more than 200 candidates next year.

How the Residency Program Works

• Residents begin the higher education coursework in the summer before their first year in the classroom.

• The residents are paired in the classroom with mentor teachers during their first year, for hands-on experience and training. As CPS employees, they earn salaries and health benefits during this residency.

• After demonstrating effectiveness during their training, residents receive support in finding a full-time position for their second year, during which they lead their own classrooms, at a significant increase in pay.

• Following program completion and a commitment to work at CPS for at least two additional years, residents are hired as full-time CPS teachers and receive another pay increase.