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Florida State Senator Proposes Financial Incentive For Teachers

Florida State Sen. Bill Montford, R-Tallahasee, wants to encourage college students to make a career in education. He's proposing creating a scholarship to help pay for teacher certification.

Montford said Florida has a teacher shortage. “For the first time in recent history, we’re having a difficult time attracting a number of qualified applicants, even for elementary school teaching," he said.

Students could receive up to $10,000 a year for two years to help pay for their teacher certification.

“This is a minor degree of assistance for the young people and if it will help, if it will get just a few more teachers, young people into the teaching profession, I will have considered that a success,” he said.

Students could also get a $10,000 bonus for completing their first year of teaching in the state. He says his proposal would complement the state’s Bright Futures scholarship.

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Sarah Mueller is the first recipient of the WFSU Media Capitol Reporting Fellowship. She’ll be covering the 2017 Florida legislative session and recently earned her master’s degree in Public Affairs Reporting at the University of Illinois Springfield. Sarah was part of the Illinois Statehouse press corps as an intern for NPR Illinois in 2016. When not working, she enjoys playing her yellow lab, watching documentaries and reading memoirs.