RENO, Nev. — Three years ago, the Sierra Basin School District began the fall with more than 600 teaching positions unfilled, leaning on long-term substitutes and combining classes in cafeterias. This fall, the district opened with fewer than 300 vacancies, and administrators credit much of the turnaround to an unusual source: a paid apprenticeship that turns classroom aides, bus drivers and career-changers into licensed teachers.
The program, launched with state workforce funding and a local university partner, allows participants to work full-time in schools while earning a bachelor’s degree and teaching license over three to four years. Tuition is covered, and apprentices earn a starting wage of about $38,000 that rises as they complete coursework.
How the apprenticeship works
Each apprentice is paired with a mentor teacher, who receives a $4,000 annual stipend. In the first year, apprentices work as instructional assistants; by the third, most are co-teaching and leading lessons. Coursework is offered evenings and online through the High Desert State University.
- Current apprentices: 412
- Graduates now teaching: 186
- Retention after two years: 91 percent, compared with about 72 percent districtwide
- Highest-need subjects: special education, math and bilingual education
The retention figure is what excites district leaders most. Teachers who come through the apprenticeship tend to already live in the community and know the schools, which makes them less likely to leave.
I was a lunch aide for nine years. I knew these kids’ names, their families, which ones didn’t eat breakfast. Now I get to teach them how to read.
Gloria Santana, first-year third-grade teacher and program graduate
Lessons, and doubts, for other states
Similar apprenticeship models have spread to more than 40 states, according to the National Council on Educator Pathways, after federal labor officials formally recognized teaching as an apprenticeable occupation. Nevada’s program is among the largest. Superintendent Dr. Raymond Kwan said the approach required a shift in thinking. “We used to wait for teachers to arrive from somewhere else,” he said. “We finally realized our future teachers were already working in our buildings.”
Not everyone is convinced the model can solve the shortage on its own. Some teacher educators worry that apprentices, juggling full-time work and college courses, may receive less preparation than traditional students who complete a semester of full-time student teaching. “The question is whether the training is deep enough, especially for complicated subjects like special education,” said Dr. Linda Fairbanks, a professor of education at the Pacific Crest College.
The district’s teachers union supports the program but has pushed for clear limits on apprentice workloads, warning that schools should not use them as low-cost replacements for licensed staff. The two sides agreed last spring that apprentices cannot be the sole teacher of record until their final year.
Funding is another uncertainty. The program costs roughly $14,000 per apprentice each year beyond wages, and about half of that comes from state grants that must be renewed by the Legislature. District officials are lobbying to make the money permanent.
For participants, the appeal is straightforward. Marcus Delaney, a former warehouse supervisor now in his second year, said he never thought he could afford to stop working and go back to school. “This was the only way it was ever going to happen,” he said. “I get paid, I get a degree, and I get to find out right away whether I’m any good at this.”
The district is accepting applications for its next cohort through the end of the month at apprentices@sierrabasin.example.
