Scott Proposes $1 Million For STEM Teacher Summer Residency Program

WJCT News | By Ryan Benk

Published October 20, 2015 at 4:29 PM EDT

Surrounded by SAFT America employees, Florida Gov. Rick Scott announces he's proposing $1 million to pay teachers for summer residency programs at high-tech companies.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is proposing to spend $1 million on training teachers in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields.

Speaking at battery manufacturer SAFT America’s Jacksonville plant Tuesday, Scott said he hopes the program will help teachers inspire students to join the high-tech workforce.

“We’re going to work with high-tech companies like SAFT to make sure our STEM teachers in our K-12 education can get summer residency programs in these high-tech companies so when they finish they can go back to their schools and prepare their students for the jobs of the future,” Scott said.

Scott says the proposed program would pay teachers during the summer to study under companies including Embraer and Lockheed- Martin.

He said he’ll release criteria for teachers to get into the program soon.