Federal officials cut $2.5 million in funding to support teacher preparation programs at Teachers College essential to the success of deaf students, as part of broader cuts announced on March 7. More than 80 percent of this funding supported TC students directly through tuition scholarships and stipends.
The programs — Columbia Collaborate and COACH — prepare teachers of the deaf and speech-language pathologists to provide the specialized services that these children need to communicate, learn and thrive in their communities.
“Pediatric deafness is a neurodevelopmental emergency. Without support, deaf and hard of hearing children do not learn to communicate, which has cascading effects on brain, language, academic, social and occupational development,” explains Elaine Smolen (Ph.D. ’20), Visiting Assistant Professor of TC’s Deaf & Hard of Hearing program. “Deaf and hard of hearing children, and their families, need specialized support from teachers of the deaf to learn language, literacy and skills they need to succeed.”
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Since 2019, the U.S. Department of Education has supported scholarships for 45 specialized educators in TC’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education programs. Founded in 1906, the College’s program is one of the oldest training programs for teachers of the deaf in the United States — with thousands of graduates making an impact across the globe in both school and private settings.
“Graduates of Teachers College stand out in our field as well-rounded educators. Through our comprehensive training, we are prepared to work in a variety of roles within our field,” explains TC alum Emily Parr (Ed.M. ’12), a teacher of deaf students in Florida. “Our field requires a wide range of skills and knowledge to address the needs of our population of students…During a critical time when so many educators are leaving the field, my fellow TC alumni are still out there doing the work.”
Cuts to this specialized teacher preparation will further exacerbate existing teacher shortages nationwide — a challenge that the Columbia Collaborate and COACH programs have consistently worked to mitigate, with graduates from rural communities in Utah, Iowa and more returning home to provide services following graduation.
“These cuts are catastrophic for deaf and hard of hearing children and their families throughout the United States,” says Smolen, noting that these niche professionals help students through numerous touchpoints, including classroom instruction, family coaching and collaborative support across public, private, charter and religious schools. “Because of the cuts, our field will lose at least 24 potential deaf education professionals, which is a huge impact in our low-incidence field.”
U.S. officials estimate that more than 300,000 children between the ages of 5 and 17 are deaf or hard of hearing. The Bill of Rights for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children, implemented in just 18 states, outlines the specific educational needs of this population — including the “right and the capacity to be educated,” and “the right to appropriate early intervention services as well as quality family educational services.”
“Our graduates play a critical role in ensuring that students and families actually have these rights,” says Smollen. “Such protections can’t function effectively if those resources don’t exist, and students and families will suffer.”