Veterans Grant Frequently Asked Questions

MDE recommends that each district develop its own outreach or recruitment program for military veterans living in the community that is served by the district. There is no database available to the public of veterans who are looking for teaching positions. However, by maintaining close relationships with local community colleges, traditional route educator preparation programs at nearby colleges or universities, and alternate route programs, candidates who are veterans and who are interested in earning a teaching credential might be more easily identified by district administration. In addition, districts should review lists of educators who routinely serve the district as substitute teachers working under educator permits, as there may be veterans already working in schools who aspire to hold a teaching credential.

Following section (2) of the authorizing statute for this grant, districts are responsible for developing their own financial monitoring control plan and establishing the pay structure for the veteran through their collective bargaining agreement, if any. This is also subject to budget and salary compensation transparency reporting under MCL 388.1618. For all other allowable expenditures under this grant, districts should develop their own procedures for recordkeeping and responsible management in accordance with their regular fiscal policies. IMPORTANT NOTE: These procedures should also provide clear details on how the salary phase-down will be administered, per paragraph (2)(c) of MCL 388.1630c.

They already did, at time of application, by checking all of the assurances required for the application. In addition, they affirmed these assurances by completing the Qualtrics form sent before grant award. There is no further documentation required to be submitted to MDE. MDE recommends that a written agreement be put in place outlining the various areas of the support provided to the veteran educator, with copies kept by the employer, the educator, and the association or collective bargaining organization (if any).

The student teaching portion of the veteran’s educator preparation must be equivalent to 12-15 weeks for traditional route candidates, or 16-18 weeks for alternative route candidates.

Yes. For the purposes of this grant, those two terms are equivalent.

There can be many reasons, and ultimately the decision is left to the mentoring teacher under statute. Please note that this is a special rule under the statute to ensure that grant funds support veterans who have achieved the level of performance required for classroom teaching. In situations where the mentoring teacher intends to disapprove of the veteran educator’s deployment into classroom teaching and/or certification, some best practices are:

• Close communication with both the partnering EPP and the school administration to determine the background factors leading to the decision;
• A clear rationale put into writing by the mentoring teacher, to be kept on record by the employing district; and
• A written action plan, including expectations for improved performance, in situations where the mentoring teacher and the veteran educator agree for a second attempt (“Phase 2”) of student teaching.

Yes, but only if that person were currently pursuing an educator preparation program toward initial certification and if that person was in the student teaching phase of the program. Your district might find a way to support this person’s work toward teaching certificate through some other means before the student teaching phase. Check out our resources and options for support on the MDE Become a Michigan Educator webpage.

No; only local education agencies (LEAs), both traditional public school districts and public school academies (PSAs), are eligible to complete the application on behalf of veterans.

The veteran would not need to be currently employed by the district, but you do have to have a particular person in mind who is currently enrolled in student teaching, with an intent to bring that person onto staff as a starting teacher at the conclusion of the student teaching. 

It is the responsibility of the candidate to work with their district to determine the appropriate documentation. There is not a specific document the department requires districts to review to verify the candidate’s highest yearly military salary. The department will request proof of documentation in the updated application.