New EdVoice Institute Policy Brief Calls for Permanent $20,000 Teacher Grants to Staff California’s Highest-Need Classrooms

With 1 in 7 California teachers underprepared and more than 750,000 students without access to a qualified teacher, EdVoice Institute recommends making the Golden State Teacher Grant (GSTG) permanent and targeted

SACRAMENTO, CA – California’s teacher workforce crisis continues to disproportionately impact the state’s highest-need schools, according to the latest policy brief released today by EdVoice Institute: “Incentives to Attract and Retain Teachers in California’s Highest-Need Schools.”

EdVoice Institute identifies and uplifts scalable policy solutions to improve academic outcomes for children from low-income communities. Grounded in research and state data, the brief recommends making the Golden State Teacher Grant (GSTG) a permanent, reliably state-funded teacher incentive program to help ensure every student in California has access to a well-prepared, qualified teacher.

The research highlights stark disparities in access to qualified teachers across California:

• 1 in 6 California teachers in the highest-need schools are substitutes, interns, or teaching outside their credential area.

• Students in ≥80% Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) schools are nearly twice as likely to be taught by an underqualified teacher (15.2%) as students in the wealthiest schools (8.5%).

• Racial disparities further compound unequal access to qualified teachers:

  • Students in the highest-need schools (≥80% FRL) are predominantly Latino (77%) and Black (7%), while lowest-need schools (≤20% FRL) serve more White (42%) and Asian (26%) students.

  • In 2023–24, only 67% of teachers were fully credentialed in schools where at least 1 in 5 students was Black, compared to 82.5% statewide.

“EdVoice Institute provides state leaders with evidence-based solutions to California’s most pressing public education challenges. Our latest brief prioritizes recommendations to help bring more qualified teachers to the state’s highest-need schools because teachers are the single most important school-based factor in student success,” said Marshall Tuck, CEO of EdVoice Institute. “Too many students, particularly Black and Latino students from low-income communities, are negatively impacted by the state’s ongoing teacher shortage crisis. If the state is to deliver a quality public education that prepares all students for postsecondary success, it is imperative that California make long-term commitments to programs, such as the Golden State Teacher Grant program, that effectively strengthen the teacher workforce,” continued Tuck.

Since its launch, GSTG – currently funded by temporary, one-time dollars from the General Fund – has incentivized more than 22,000 teachers to commit to serving in high-needs schools, reaching over 750 high-need campuses and providing hundreds of thousands of students with greater access to qualified teachers. Despite this successful track record, GSTG is scheduled to end in 2026. This could reverse recent gains and deepen staffing crises in the very schools that need stability most.

Policy Blueprint: Make GSTG Permanent, Targeted, and Reliably Funded

EdVoice Institute’s brief advises lawmakers to break the cycle of short-lived initiatives and create lasting improvements in teacher workforce stability by permanently embedding the GSTG program into the state’s education funding.

To build a lasting solution, the state must:

• Make GSTG a permanent, ongoing program with reliable state funding.

• Increase the grant amount from $10,000 to $20,000.

• Require a four-year service commitment in high-need schools to improve retention beyond the early career years, when turnover is highest. The current service commitment is only two years.

• If long-term affordability becomes a concern for the state, target the incentive to the highest-need schools by raising the eligibility threshold from ≥55% Free or Reduced-Price Lunch schools (FRL) to ≥80% FRL.

  • In this scenario, the program would support an annual cohort of roughly 3,500 teachers, estimated to cost $70 million per year.

“At an estimate of $70 million for 3,500 new qualified teachers, the Golden State Teacher Grant (GSTG) program is one of the most cost-effective investments we can make in education across our state,” said Steven Almazán, EdVoice Institute’s Director of Policy & Partnerships. “While no single program can fully solve the teacher shortage, a permanent, targeted GSTG program is one of the most practical ways to stabilize classrooms in our highest-need schools while the state continues the longer-term work of strengthening the teacher pipeline. It is time for us to move beyond short-term commitments and instead focus on solutions that will positively impact teachers, students, and communities for generations to come,” continued Almazán.