Can Salina grow its own teachers? New LIFT awards highlight a bigger USD 305 challenge
The Salina Education Foundation’s selection of six 2026 LIFT recipients adds another round of future teachers to a program built around one local goal: getting more educators into Salina classrooms. This year’s six recipients were chosen from a pool of 20 applicants, and the program offers up to $5,000 in forgivable loans, renewable after a student’s freshman year, with the loans forgiven for each year the recipient teaches in Salina Public Schools.
On paper, the idea is straightforward. In practice, it speaks to a bigger issue. The Salina Education Foundation’s public description of the program says USD 305 is experiencing the same teacher-shortage pressure seen across the country and that teacher quality, recruitment and retention were identified as critical priorities through the district’s “Creating the Future” process. The Foundation describes LIFT as a “grow-your-own” teacher program designed to help meet that need in Salina Public Schools.
The program’s structure is local by design. According to the Foundation’s application page, LIFT is aimed at encouraging students to enter teaching and teach in USD 305. Recipients agree to complete a program leading to teacher certification and to teach one year for each year of support. Eligibility is limited to Saline County residents attending a Saline County school, working for a Saline County school, or attending a Saline County university.
This year’s recipient group reflects that local pipeline approach. Publicly identified recipients include Jessica Bertrand, Caroline Brady, Lauren Crow, Jaelyn Gates, Kaylin Hornseth and Adalyne Saner. Their stated plans span elementary education and agricultural and family consumer science, with several of the recipients coming from Salina Central, Salina South and Ell-Saline.
The harder question is whether six recipients a year is enough to make a measurable dent in district hiring needs. On USD 305’s public Frontline recruitment page, the district listed openings as of April 17 in several teaching-related categories, including seven in elementary school teaching, four in early childhood, three in high school teaching, one in middle school teaching and eight in special education services. The same page also showed three openings in certified support staff.
That local hiring picture lines up with the broader Kansas shortage. Educate Kansas, citing the Fall 2025 KSDE Vacancy Report, says Kansas had 1,747 certified teaching openings statewide, with the greatest need in elementary and special education.
LIFT’s public track record suggests the program has produced real results, even if it is not a full solution by itself. The Salina Education Foundation’s recipient page lists former LIFT recipients now teaching in USD 305 schools including Central High, Cottonwood Elementary, Stewart Elementary, Oakdale Elementary, Schilling Elementary and South Middle School. That same page also shows some former recipients later teaching outside Salina, including in Dodge City, Andover, Spring Hill and Blue Valley.
That may be the fairest way to view the program. LIFT is not a quick fix for every classroom opening, and it does not eliminate the normal churn of teacher hiring, retention and competition from other districts. What it does do is create a local recruiting lane built around students and future educators with ties to Saline County, at a time when both Salina and Kansas as a whole are still trying to keep enough licensed teachers in the pipeline.
In other words, the six names announced this month matter. But the bigger story is not just who received the loans. It is whether Salina’s long-running attempt to grow its own teachers can keep pace with the district’s actual staffing needs.