Troops to Teachers

Troops to Teachers (TTT) was established in 1994 as a Department of Defense program placing veterans into K - 12 schools as teachers. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2000 transferred the responsibility for program oversight and funding to the U.S. Department of Education but continued operation by the Department of Defense. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 provided for the continuation of the TTT Program. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY2013 transferred the responsibility for the program oversight and funding back to the U.S. Department of Defense. TTT is managed by the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES), Pensacola, Florida.

Funding for the program is appropriated annually. Military personnel interested in a second career in Kindergarten through High School in public, charter or Bureau of Indian Affairs schools may submit a registration form at any time. TTT registration can be accessed through ProudToServeAgain.com. Source

The program was adopted by the British Ministry of Defence for British schools in 2013.

Certification

Military members with a baccalaureate degree or higher are eligible to begin the teaching certification process to become an academic subject teacher. However, many service members may already qualify to become a vocational/technical teacher. Military members only need the equivalent of one year of college courses and six years of experience in a vocational or technical field to begin the certification process.

To complete the process, individuals can use an Alternative Certification Program (ACP) or University Teacher Preparation Program. Military Members within the European theater may benefit from an ACP, since this method offers online courses to obtain the teaching certification.

Military members from all of the armed forces can use tuition assistance for their teaching certification while on active duty. Members may also be eligible for financial assistance for teacher certification expenses. A commitment to teach for three years in a “high-need” school district or at a high school with a high percentage of low-income families is part of the obligation for receiving some forms of financial aid.

There are 33 state TTT offices nationwide that offer placement assistance for the 45 states participating in the program. Offices can assist military members with state certification requirements. Service members can take advantage of the TTT Web site, www.ProudToServeAgain.com, to correspond with representatives and receive alternative certification information. Source

Controversy

Today, without a national draft yet with wars with no end in sight, it is no surprise that the U.S. military is eager to foster proven as well as new recruitment strategies (Alvarez, 2007). As part of that campaign, using attractive lures—like free first-person shooter video games and often false promises of enormous cash signing bonuses or college scholarships—and with the benefit of seemingly unfettered access to places children congregate without the presence of parents or guardians, the military is refining its youth recruitment activities by targeting public education (Houppert, 2005; Medina, 2007). For example, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), a multiple-choice test used to determine eligibility for enlistment, is integrated and used in schools as a recruitment tool (Anderson, 2009). Anderson analyzed and named these and other specifics of how schools can be militarized: increased military recruitment in schools and military charter schools; the transfer of military personnel to schools through programs like Troops to Teachers; motivational programs taught and funded by the military like Planning for Life; outreach through “adventure vans” that provide students access to military games and simulations; the use of JROTC instructors to teach other subjects, often allowing students to receive extra credits for graduation. This list identifies a range of issues that reinforce a particular form of hegemonic masculinity and the recruitment of female students to this ideology (Anderson, 2009). In what follows we look closely at connections between military public schools and the charter school movement. Source

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