As South Florida’s schools welcome back students for the 2026-27 academic year, the Teacher Accelerator Program (TAP), the flagship teacher workforce initiative of Achieve Inc., is continuing to strengthen the region’s educator pipeline.

This summer, TAP celebrated more than 200 newly trained teachers who are now entering classrooms across public, private, and charter schools throughout South Florida.

With this year’s cohort, TAP now has trained more than 700 new educators since launching in 2023, becoming the single largest pipeline of teaching talent in Miami-Dade County and helping address the region’s ongoing teacher shortage. In 2025 alone, TAP teachers were hired by 111 unique schools across South Florida, demonstrating the program’s growing reach and impact.

Originally launched at the University of Miami, TAP quickly expanded to Florida International University and Miami-Dade College before growing again this year to include Broward College and Barry University, expanding access to the program to North Miami-Dade and Broward County.

The innovative program offers an accelerated pathway into teaching through a one-semester preparation course followed by a six-week paid summer internship before supporting participants through certification, job placement, and year-long mentorship during their first year in the classroom.

“We launched TAP to make it easier for talented, passionate people to become teachers, and the results continue to exceed our expectations,” said Leslie Miller Saiontz, founder of the Teacher Accelerator Program. “Each year we’re reaching more aspiring educators, expanding to new institutions, and helping schools fill critical classroom needs with well-prepared teachers.”

TAP is helping address Florida’s teacher shortage at a time when nearly 2,000 teaching positions remain vacant statewide ahead of the 2026-27 school year. At the same time, nearly half of Florida’s teachers have fewer than four years of classroom experience, underscoring the need not only to recruit new educators, but to prepare and support them so they can succeed and remain in the profession. In Miami-Dade County, teacher vacancies have declined by more than 20 percent over the past year, supported in part by TAP’s growing pipeline of qualified teachers.

“Our growth demonstrates that there are passionate future teachers throughout our community who simply need a more accessible pathway into the profession,” said Jasmine Calin-Micek, senior director of the Teacher Accelerator Program. “Just as importantly, we’re preparing them to succeed once they enter the classroom by providing the training, mentorship, and support they need during those critical first years.”

Funded primarily through private philanthropy, including support from Kenneth C. Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, as well as the Miami Heat, United Way Miami, and Helios Education Foundation, TAP serves as a scalable model for addressing teacher shortages in Florida and nationwide.

To learn more about the Teacher Accelerator Program or begin your journey toward a career in education, visit www.teacheraccelerator.org.

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