100 Teachers-to-Be Will Get Scholarships From Edison

Trying to help California eliminate its shortfall of qualified teachers, Edison International has pledged to give $5,000 scholarships to 100 students seeking teaching credentials at California State University campuses.

Officials at Cal State, which trains nearly 60% of state’s public school teachers, expect that California schools will need 250,000 new teachers over the next decade. The shortage has already has already surfaced in many areas, resulting in 30,000 teachers in the classroom with emergency credentials.

Cal State Chancellor Charles B. Reed, who has been trying to rustle up corporate donations, said he is grateful that Edison “has realized the significance of California’s teacher shortage and generously stepped forward with a program to address it.”

To qualify for the scholarships, students must have a minimum 3.0 grade point average, demonstrate financial need and be enrolled in a full-time teaching preparation program at one of seven Cal State or Cal Poly campuses: Long Beach, Los Angeles, Pomona, Northridge, Dominguez Hills, Fullerton or San Bernardino. The $500,000 program will select 25 students annually for four years, beginning in the fall of 2000.

“We feel this program helps answer a growing need,” said Beverly Ryder, Edison’s director of educational relations.