Governor JB Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) awarded $1.5 million in grant funding to three Illinois universities through the Job Training and Economic Development (JTED) Teacher Apprenticeship Program. This pilot program will provide career pathway opportunities and supportive services for successful placement into the teacher workforce. The JTED Teacher Apprenticeship Program is creating pilots throughout the state to upscale currently employed paraprofessional educators. Educator preparation providers will lead these pilot programs with partnerships from local education and workforce agencies. Throughout the program, curriculum and competencies will be refined, and after the program, Illinois will have defined best practices and exemplary models for a Department of Labor registered Teacher Apprenticeship. As part of Illinois’ workforce recovery efforts, JTED grants focus on helping increase employment among workers and industries hardest hit by COVID-19. At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, Illinois schools reported more than 4,000 teacher vacancies. Priority populations for the Teacher Apprenticeship Program include under-employed individuals currently employed as paraprofessional educators who are also representative of the student population in terms of race, the district, or the cooperative in which they will complete their apprenticeship.