The email this summer came as a shock to Alanna Lawrence.
For the past two years, Lawrence and her husband, Jeremy, had received $9,000 each toward their student loans, thanks to a state-funded program that helps teachers pay off their debt. They teach in the Vicksburg-Warren School District, which the State Board of Education has designated an area critically short of teachers.
They were expecting $6,000 more each this year. But, they learned from the email, for the first time since the state Legislature created the Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program in 2021, educators such as Lawrence will receive no assistance — even as Mississippi continues to grapple with a teacher shortage.
Lawrence said defunding the program sends a confusing message to the state’s educators.
“They say how much they appreciate us,” she said. “But the actions aren’t matching up.”
The Winter-Reed program provides up to three annual loan payments toward participating teachers’ student debt. Teachers who work in critical geographic shortage areas can receive $6,000 in the third year. Teachers who work in noncritical shortage areas can receive a third-year award of $3,500.
Earlier this year, the Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid requested $6.5 million from the Legislature for Fostering Access and Inspiring Hope, or FAITH, scholarships and the Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program. Lawmakers appropriated $3 million for both.
The email this summer came as a shock to Alanna Lawrence.
For the past two years, Lawrence and her husband, Jeremy, had received $9,000 each toward their student loans, thanks to a state-funded program that helps teachers pay off their debt. They teach in the Vicksburg-Warren School District, which the State Board of Education has designated an area critically short of teachers.
They were expecting $6,000 more each this year. But, they learned from the email, for the first time since the state Legislature created the Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program in 2021, educators such as Lawrence will receive no assistance — even as Mississippi continues to grapple with a teacher shortage.
Lawrence said defunding the program sends a confusing message to the state’s educators.
“They say how much they appreciate us,” she said. “But the actions aren’t matching up.”
The Winter-Reed program provides up to three annual loan payments toward participating teachers’ student debt. Teachers who work in critical geographic shortage areas can receive $6,000 in the third year. Teachers who work in noncritical shortage areas can receive a third-year award of $3,500.
Earlier this year, the Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid requested $6.5 million from the Legislature for Fostering Access and Inspiring Hope, or FAITH, scholarships and the Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program. Lawmakers appropriated $3 million for both.