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As South Florida schools reopen to students, Achieve Miami’s Teacher Accelerator Program (TAP) is confronting the region’s teacher shortage head-on.
TAP ended its second full year by graduating 210 newly trained teachers who are now being placed in public, private and charter school classrooms across South Florida for the 2025-26 school year. Since launching in 2023, TAP’s impact has grown nearly fivefold, with more than 500 educators trained to date – many of whom have gone on to earn “Rookie of the Year” honors at their respective schools.
Originally based at the University of Miami, TAP has expanded to Florida International University and Miami Dade College, not only making the program more readily accessible to college seniors, but also career changers with a four-year degree. The innovative program offers a streamlined path to teaching: candidates take a one-semester course followed by a six-week paid summer internship and then graduate to receive assistance with teaching certification and job placement.
“We launched TAP to make it easier for talented, passionate people to become teachers, and the results speak for themselves,” said Leslie Miller Saiontz, founder of Achieve Miami.
“We’ve built a model that’s working and growing, and most importantly, we’re putting strong new educators in front of the students who need them most.”
TAP is helping fill vacancies at a time when the Florida Education Association reports more than 2,200 open teaching positions statewide. In Miami-Dade County, teacher vacancies have dropped by over 20 percent in the past year, aided in part by TAP’s growing pipeline of qualified educators.
“There is incredible untapped teaching talent right here in our own community,” said Jasmine Calin-Micek, TAP’s senior director. “This year’s cohort is our largest yet, and we’re not slowing down.”
Funded primarily through private donations, including support from Kenneth C. Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, as well as the Miami Heat, United Way, and Helios Education Foundation, TAP has the potential to serve as a blueprint for addressing the national teacher shortage crisis.
To learn more about the Teacher Accelerator Program, or to take the first step towards a fulfilling career in education, visit www.teacheraccelerator.org.
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