The UNC system is set to join forces with community colleges in the battle against a statewide teacher shortage.
Under a plan announced by Gov. Mike Easley during his State of the State address Monday, the system’s 16 universities would collaborate with the state’s 58 community colleges on the “2+2 Program,” which UNC-Chapel Hill helped pilot in 1999.
The program allows students to pursue a teaching degree through two years at local community colleges followed by two years at a four-year university through distance learning.
The idea is to make teaching as accessible to the general public as other fields.
Easley said Monday that he hopes the program’s expansion will help the state reach his goal of increasing the number of teachers it produces by 64 percent each year.
“We know that when our children have access to good teachers, they succeed,” he said. “But right now, we only produce one-third of the teachers we need. This business model will not work. We must change it.”
The idea originated in 1999 as part of the Learn NC program, a project at UNC-CH’s School of Education. The University now works with several community colleges to provide aid to people seeking their teaching degrees.
Now, those efforts are expanding statewide.
“All of our university campuses will begin programs with community colleges, in every corner of this state, so that teachers can get their degree from a licensed university in their community and children can get the teachers they need in their schools,” Easley said during his speech.
