What is Take Stock in Children?

Take Stock in Children (TSIC) is a scholarship and mentoring program that helps low-income, at-risk students break the cycle of poverty by graduating from high school and receiving a college degree.

Local middle and high public school students are invited to apply for TSIC, provided that they qualify for free or reduced lunch, have at least a 2.5 GPA. Once selected for TSIC, the students sign a contract stating that they will maintain their grades, adhere to school attendance and behavior standards, and stay drug and crime-free throughout middle and high school. The students also receive a volunteer mentor with whom they are required to meet at their school on a weekly basis. TSIC works with the guidance counselors at each middle and high school to monitor the students, and currently employs three Student Advocates whose sole job is to follow-up with and form relationships with the students. Upon high school graduation, if the student has fulfilled the points of the TSIC contract, they receive a 2-year college scholarship.

How you can help!

Become A Mentor

Mentors are a critical component to the success of Take Stock in Children. Mentors serve as positive role-models, advocates, coaches and friends. As a Take Stock Mentor you meet weekly with your scholar at their school and have an opportunity to help a child reach their goal of a college education. We are currently seeking new mentors for our newest class of Take Stock in Children. Click here to learn more about being a mentor, or begin filling out the mentor application here.

Help Fund A Scholarship
Take Stock Scholarships are Florida Prepaid 2-Year Florida College Scholarships, which will pay for 60 credit hours of tuition and fees at any of the 28 Florida Colleges, but can be used at any public institution in the state of Florida to obtain a college or vocational education. Scholarships are purchased through the Florida Prepaid Foundation and cost approximately $8,000. They are funded half ($4,000) by private sector contributions to The Education Foundation and half ($4,000) through matching funds available through the State of Florida. If you would like to contribute to Take Stock in Children, please click here.

There is currently a teacher shortage that is reaching critical levels across the state, and across the nation, that is hurting our children’s ability to learn. This, coupled with declining levels of interest in college students selecting education as a career, causes great concern for the future of our education and our workforce.

• In March 2018, according to the Florida Department of Education, Florida public schools had 1,629 vacancies (Alachua County currently has nine).
• This equates to approximately 150,000 Florida students without a regular classroom teacher this year.
• The same report projects that Florida will face 6,795 vacancies (215 in Alachua County) next year.
• According to a May 2017 study from researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles, “Only 4.6 percent of college freshmen planned to major in education, down from 10 percent in the 1970s.”
• According to a New York Post article from February 14, 2018, “Over the past decade, roughly 8 percent of American teachers left the profession.”
• In an Atlantic article from October 2013, Richard Ingersoll, professor of education and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, summed up the issues:

“Respected, well-paid lines of work do not have shortages,” Ingersoll says. He adds that he is happy with his new career, but he would still be a high school history teacher had it not been for the lack of respect and low salary he experienced. For a lot of teachers I spoke with, this seems to be the common sentiment: If the overall attractiveness of teaching as a profession gets better, the best teachers will enter the profession, stay, and help increase the effectiveness of schools.

“To improve the quality of teaching,” Ingersoll says, you need to “improve the quality of the teaching job.” And, “If you really improve that job… you would attract good people and you would keep them.”

• The College Board asked: “What profession are you planning to pursue with your degree?” Only 1% of college students expressed an interest in becoming a teacher.
• According to Zippia, a website for recent grads looking for where to locate to start their careers, Florida is one of three states ranked as “the worst states to be a teacher in America.”
• According to a study from Wallethub, a personal finance web site, Florida ranks fifth from the bottom among states that are the worst to teach in.
• According to the U.S. Department of Education, enrollment in teacher preparation programs has been steadily decreasing since 2008 (down over 30% between 2008 and 2014). Enrollment decreased by nearly half for Florida teachers during the same time period.

According to exit interviews and research conducted by the Florida Education Association, as well as other groups, the following are among the steps that can be taken to address this issue:

1. Focus on learning. Hire well-prepared teachers, and provide them with the resources they need to be successful.
2. Allow more time for teaching, with less focus on paperwork and documentation that takes time away from instruction.
3. Reduce high-stakes tests. Provide teachers with the flexibility and autonomy to assess students in a way that makes sense according to individual needs and does not take away instructional time.
4. Provide competitive salaries. Florida’s teachers are currently being paid below national average.
5. Provide more – and better – support for beginning teachers.
6. Provide more job security for high quality teachers, and measure that quality based on authentic measurements that go beyond test scores.

Contact your state legislators today, to let them know you support teachers and want to see efforts made to increase attraction and retention.

State Senator Contact Information

State House of Representatives Contact Information