Deans for Impact Convenes 40+ Leaders on Capitol Hill to Champion Solutions for Strengthening Teacher Pipelines

AUSTIN, Texas (June 26, 2025) – Deans for Impact (DFI) brought together more than 40 deans and executive leaders of teacher-preparation programs in Washington, D.C. to draw attention to critical shortages of high-quality teachers and call for renewed federal commitment to strengthening teacher pipelines. 

Representing 22 U.S. states, these leaders met with more than 50 federal administrators and congressional offices on June 24 to elevate evidence-based, on-the-ground practices to address urgent workforce challenges; identify innovative solutions for federal investments and programs to effectively meet student learning needs; and offer tried-and-true strategies for achieving impactful results for schools and communities. These meetings were part of a national teacher-preparation leadership convening organized by DFI. 

Nationwide, one in eight classrooms, or at least six million students, are led by teachers who are underprepared and/or uncertified; new research shows that students taught by uncertified teachers lose up to four months of learning compared to their peers.

“When millions of students are being taught by underprepared teachers, it’s not just a school issue, it’s an economic crisis that harms the global competitiveness of our country,” said Patrick Steck, Vice President of External Affairs at DFI. “This is an urgent moment for congressional leaders to build a stronger teacher workforce by ensuring every pathway into teaching is affordable and high-quality. Our national network of teacher-preparation leaders is showing what’s possible for students when teacher preparation is placed front and center, and when future teachers receive the recognition they deserve.”

This convening comes at a time when federal leaders have made significant cuts, and are considering permanent changes, to longstanding, bipartisan investments designed to improve the quality of teacher training programs – alongside growing national concerns about low student outcomes in literacy and math. DFI and its national network of teacher-preparation leaders across the country are championing best practices and solutions that would support all students to be taught by well-prepared teachers.

Some of the policy solutions that DFI and leaders championed include:

1. Invest in teacher preparation: Maintain funding for long-standing, bipartisan programs that promote pathways into teaching that are accessible, practice-based, and focused on developing the instructional skills of teachers.

2. Reset the national conversation around teaching and learning: Elevate the vital role of future teachers in American prosperity and uplift the teaching professional, especially for aspiring and early-career teachers 

3. Advance policy to scale affordable, high-quality pathways: Advance bipartisan solutions that promote stronger partnerships between PK-12 schools, teacher training programs, and states to align workforce supply and demand and instructional outcomes for PK-12 students.

Read more in Education Week's coverage: https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/teacher-educators-urge-congress-prioritize-new-pathways-to-teaching/2025/06.

About Deans for Impact (DFI)

DFI is a national non-profit organization committed to ensuring that every child is taught by a well-prepared teacher. DFI supports educator-preparation programs to bring the science of learning into teaching practice; partners with policymakers to ensure pathways into teaching are accessible, practice-based, and focused on instruction; and equips leaders with the tools to address today’s most pressing challenges in educator preparation. Guided by principles of learning science, DFI aims to help aspiring and early-career teachers create rigorous and inclusive classrooms where all children thrive. For more information, visit deansforimpact.org. 

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Media contact:
Cece Zhou
czhou@deansforimpact.org
248-854-0630