Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger León, Montclair State University President Susan Cole, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, Newark Teachers Union President John Abeigon, legislators, educators, and students took the first step toward creating a pipeline to educate, train and prepare future teachers – and to diversify the teacher workforce – with the launch of Newark Public Schools Teacher Education Academy on Tuesday.

The launch begins the planning phase for the academy, which is expected to open in 2020. Additional high school academies will be announced over the coming months.

The Teacher Education Academy will be located at Newark’s East Side High School.

The AFT and Montclair State University will help design a curriculum to prepare students for a career in teaching. Montclair State will also provide adjunct professors to teach students, and offer internships for students.

The Teacher Education Academy will prepare Newark public school students for careers in education and create a pipeline of diversity in education.

The academy will also create an environment that makes a teaching career in education a destination for high school and college-bound students.

“Today, we take an important step in Newark with the broader education community in New Jersey to grow the educator workforce and diversify the pipeline of people entering the profession through a new grow-our-own program,” Weingarten said. “We are excited to collaborate on this program, which addresses the critical challenge of diversifying the teacher workforce in our classrooms and providing educators with the tools they need to stay in the profession and to succeed.”