Teach for America coming this fall to Tampa Bay schools

Teachers from the educator-training nonprofit Teach For America will take the reins in Tampa Bay classrooms for the first time this fall.

Why it matters: Teach For America (TFA) "corps members," as they're called, will help fill staffing needs in Hillsborough County public schools, which have among the highest teacher vacancy rates in the state, the Tampa Bay Times reported .

• The district also had more schools with D or F grades last year than anywhere else in the state per the Times .

How it works: TFA recruits and trains teaching candidates, often from top colleges and universities, and sends them to communities in need.

• Corps members have a presence in more than 40 regions , including Miami-Dade and Duval counties.
• The move into Tampa Bay is the organization's first expansion into a new region since 2016, per the Times.

Zoom in: Hillsborough will pay salary and benefits plus a $5,000 fee to TFA for up to 20 corps members, district spokesperson Debra Bellanti told Axios.

• District officials identified 30 schools — 14 elementary, six middle and 10 high schools — with "hard-to-fill positions" for TFA to focus on, Bellanti said.
• Most are part of the district's Transformation Network , a group of low-performing schools prioritized for turnaround.