INDIANAPOLIS — Right now, there are more than 1,600 open teaching positions across Indiana.
But at Indianapolis Public Schools, they have a new program aimed at fixing the problem in their district. They're now recruiting and training new teachers all within a year.
It's new lesson for elementary students at Ernie Pyle School 90 - and also for student teacher Aisha Avance.
She is getting real life experience on becoming a teacher through the IndyTeach apprenticeship.
"I saw the opportunity, I applied, I was contacted and I took on the role," she said.
It's a no-cost, paid, one-year teacher certification program through IPS and Christel House Indianapolis. Avance is one of six apprentices in the program, being trained across three IPS elementary schools, each paired with a mentor.
"Rather than a traditional six- to ten-week student teaching, they're here from the beginning of school until the end of school. So they're seeing all the processes. Setting up your classroom, entering your grades, your gradebook, all of the behind the scenes that you don't normally see in student teachings," said School 90 teacher Eve Rotterman.
Avance has three degrees, but none are related to teaching. In fact, she was a deputy clerk her entire career before moving from South Bend, in hopes of making a difference for these students.
"They like education, they like learning, and so when you make it fun for them and you can connect with them, I think you just get better results," she said.
"It is the best investment I feel IPS could have made," said School 90 principal Valerie Clark.
Clark said with more diverse sets of hands in the classroom, it's helped improve test scores for reading and math.
"Different languages, different cultures, different races to represent the students that we serve, so they know that, 'Hey I can grow up and be a teacher, too, because I see someone that looks like me,'" she said.
Some of the apprentices already have teaching jobs lined up with IPS for this upcoming school year.
The deadline to apply for the next upcoming cohort is this Friday.