WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) announced a $1.8 million grant to MidAmerica Nazarene University for teacher quality partnerships in Southwest Kansas.

The funds will enable MidAmerica Nazarene University to partner with Dodge City, Garden City and Seward County community colleges and Copeland, Deerfield, Lakin, Rolla, Stanton, and Sublette school districts, for the Preparing Educators for Rural Kansas (PERK) Program. The program will recruit and train teachers for the rural setting, and work on retention of in-service teachers in a rural setting. This program affords the chance to research, create and implement new and innovative processes and activities to help the challenges facing rural Kansas school districts.

The funds were awarded by the United States Department of Education’s Teacher Quality Partnerships Grants Program. Senator Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

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