Awards, Grants and Scholarships
The California Teachers Association offers several different educational scholarships, grants, and awards to members and their dependents throughout the academic year.
CTA César E. Chávez Memorial Education Awards Program
This awards program provides recognition for teams of students and their teachers who demonstrate an understanding of the vision and guiding principles by which César Chávez lived his life. The recipients, both students and sponsoring CTA members, will receive up to $550 and their work will be recognized by the posting of visual art and written essays online and in various CTA publications. Award Amount: up to $550
Deadline: March 15, 2019
LGBTQ+ Safety in Schools Grant & Scholarship Program in Honor of Guy DeRosa
The grant program will support projects and presentations that promote understanding of and respect for LGBTQ+ persons.
The scholarship program will support self-identified LGBTQ members enrolled in a teacher/counseling credential or graduate program who are pursuing a career in public education and who understand the importance of LGBTQ educators as role models in our public schools. Award Amount: up to $2,500
Deadline: December 14, 2018
CTA Scholarships
The CTA Scholarship for Dependent Children offers a maximum of 35 scholarships up to $5,000 each. The highest scoring applicant is awarded the Memorial Scholarship in Honor of Ralph J. Flynn.
The CTA Scholarship in Honor of Del A. Weber offers one scholarship of $5,000 to a dependent child of an active member of CTA, CTA/NEA-Retired or deceased CTA member who is attending or attended a continuation high school or an alternative education program.
The CTA Scholarship for Members offers a maximum of five scholarships of up to $3,000 each. The highest scoring applicant is awarded the American Indian/Alaska Native Memorial Scholarship in Honor of Alice Piper.
The Student CTA (SCTA) Scholarship in Honor of L. Gordon Bittle offers a maximum of three scholarships of up to $5,000 each. The highest scoring applicant is awarded the Pacific Asian American Scholarship in Honor of Philip Vera Cruz. Award Amount: up to $5,000
Deadline: February 1, 2019
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Scholarship
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Scholarship Program encourages ethnic minority students to become educators, school nurses, school counselors or school therapists and to promote professional growth for ethnic minority teachers and ESP members. Award Amount: up to $4,000
Deadline: February 15, 2019
CTA Professional Development Awards
CTA offers a number of awards to recognize teachers and members of the community who promote public education. Efforts that might garner such awards would be effective communications by and for local chapters, excellence in public education media coverage, and efforts to promote the development of programs for the advancement and protection of human and civil rights within the Association.
NEA Foundation Grants
Educators are full of innovative ideas to improve their own teaching and their students’ learning. But in many cases, their schools and districts simply don’t have the funds to implement these projects. What’s a creative educator to do? Apply for an NEA Foundation grant!