Last Updated on February 24, 2025
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is currently funding a teacher recruitment program to provide “diversity, equity, inclusion, and access” training to prospective K-12 educators throughout the United States. As President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to eliminate DEI programs in the government, it is important for Trump to be made aware of existing racist progressive programs that his administration can hopefully defund.
The ERA Intermediary program, known as the Educator Registered Apprentice, is designed to assist state and local education agencies in establishing robust apprenticeship programs. These programs, rooted in evidence-based workforce development strategies, contribute positively to the effectiveness, readiness, and retention of workers through paid on-the-job learning experiences. The initiative aims to enhance the educator workforce pipeline by implementing Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs for K-12 Teachers, Paraeducators/Teacher Assistants, and Principals.
Under the guidance of the Educator Registered Apprenticeship (ERA) Intermediary, efforts are focused on facilitating the creation, introduction, and sustainability of educator RA programs nationwide. This is achieved through various means, including the provision of training workshops covering essential topics such as funding, diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and registration requirements.
The project receives financial backing from the Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration through Contract number [1605C2-23-C-0014].
A program document entitled “Improving Access and Retention for Black and Latino Teachers in K-12 Teacher Registered Apprenticeship Programs” shows the program’s Woke ambitions. Page 15 of the document states: “Defining Goals for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access: Schools and districts are encouraged to use data to inform the recruitment and selection process. Analyzing recruitment, interview, hiring, retention, and attrition trends by race and other categories enables targeted efforts. Data analysis can refine goals for recruiting TOCs, allowing for specific targeting, such as focusing on increasing the representation of Black and Latino male educators. This data-driven approach enhances the effectiveness of DEIA initiatives in RA programs in the education sector…New Jersey highlights the lack of data on pathways for teachers without a bachelor’s degree, which is particularly concerning for those teaching in private settings and preK, predominantly comprising women of color.”
“The (Biden) Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) awarded a $12,991,018.20 time and materials contract to Research Triangle Institute (RTI International), a non-profit research organization, to promote the expansion of registered apprenticeship (RA) programs in emerging industries through industry intermediaries,” according to the GovTribe database of government contracts.
“The scope includes conducting outreach, developing standards and competency models, providing subject matter expertise, and enrolling a minimum of 400 new RA participants in the base period and 1,000 total over the first two years. RTI International has subcontracted with several organizations, including minority-owned, woman-owned, and non-profit entities, to provide complementary services. This contract supports ETA’s efforts to enhance workforce development through the expansion of RA in emerging industry sectors,” according to GovTribe’s summary of the contract.
The Department of Labor has already obligated $4.9 million out of a potential $13 million in funding for the contract, which is slated to run at least through June 2025 and could potentially continue until June 2028 unless President Trump’s team finds out about it and stops it.
The Research Triangle Institute (RTI International) is based in Durham, North Carolina. RTI International is a major recipient of funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
According to RTI International: “In the summer of 2023, RTI International launched the Educator Registered Apprenticeship (ERA) Intermediary, with funding by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship, to offer technical assistance to state education agencies, school districts, educator preparation programs, and other potential RA partners in the development and delivery of educator RA programs. In its first year, the ERA Intermediary worked to support the expansion of RA in the education sector in nearly 40 states…The first federally registered educator program for K-12 Teacher was approved in Tennessee by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) in January 2022. Other states, such as New York, had been utilizing educator apprenticeships as early as 2019 to recruit, prepare, and retain educators, but this national recognition of the K-12 Teacher occupation led to rapid expansion of K-12 Teacher RA programs. As of spring 2024, there are over 2,800 K-12 Teacher apprentices in programs registered across 39 states and territories that are reported in DOL’s RAPIDS system.”
Can citizen journalists bring this problem to President Trump’s attention so that the Trump administration can step in and end this DEI madness once and for all?
