To help localities hit the $60,000 mark, the Kirwan Commission gave out grants, with the funds to be used for supplementing beginning teacher’s salaries. Howard schools qualified and applied for the $4.4 million grant after meeting the commission’s three requirements: making significant progress toward elevating beginning teacher salaries, focusing on the first five years of a teacher’s career, and the county providing the money to fully fund the teachers union’s contract, according to Morris.