Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the University of Chicago announced the creation of the Chicago Public Schools Educators Award Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship to attend the University of Chicago for the children of educators in the Chicago Public Schools. The new scholarship program builds upon the University of Chicago’s existing scholarships for the children of Chicago firefighters and police officers, the city’s first responders. It is an expansion of UChicago Promise, a program that Mayor Emanuel and the University of Chicago announced in 2012 as a way to help students and families throughout the city of Chicago gain admission to, pay for and thrive in college. Currently there are 36 recipients of the first responders scholarship, with an estimated hundreds of scholarships extended to students over the last three decades. In addition to the front-line teachers in the classroom, the new scholarship will include and recognize the vital role of key related service providers such as school counselors, speech pathologists and nurses, as well as support personnel who support and care for students each day, such as teaching assistants, lunchroom workers, school clerks and custodians. UChicago Promise focuses on eliminating barriers to higher education in the University’s home city. UChicago also has recently expanded its efforts to ensure access to higher education for all students across the country through theOdyssey Scholarship Program, which provides financial support and career development opportunities for low-income and first-generation students.