Lilly Endowment’s $3.4M grant to bring more teachers to Indy

Indianapolis-based education reform group The Mind Trust will use a $3.4 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to help bring nearly 200 new teachers and school administrators to the local area.

The Mind Trust will use $2 million from the Lilly grant to help fund Teach for America, which recruits top college graduates to teach in high-need public schools. The grant money will help bring 90 teachers from the national program to the area for the 2013 academic year, according to the Mind Trust.

The grant also will provide $400,000 for TFA’s Indianapolis Principal Fellowship program, which trains new administrators who commit to serving for four years in local public schools. The grant will support eight principal fellows starting in Indianapolis over the next two years.

The Mind Trust will use the remaining $1 million to support TNTP-formerly known as The New Teacher Project-a national group which recruits and trains mid-career professionals to teach in schools. The grant will help bring 100 TNTP classroom teachers to Indianapolis over the next two years.

"Lilly Endowment’s generous grant will help us attract more outstanding teachers and school leaders to Indianapolis so that more students in our city have the opportunity to succeed,” said Mind Trust CEO David Harris.

According to the Mind Trust, 85 percent of the 300 Teach for America alumni in Indianapolis continue to work in public education as teachers, principals, and leaders in education-related organizations.