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More funding needed for student teaching stipends

2 min read

There is nothing more in the world that I want than to be a teacher.

As a secondary education English major at Bloomsburg University, I’m starting to think about my student teaching placement. Student teaching is the culminating experience for aspiring educators like me. It is essential to my future as a teacher.

So, you can imagine my excitement when Pennsylvania launched a program to provide student teachers with modest stipends. Those stipends will help students like me pay our tuition, buy food, and gas up our cars. Since we are unable to hold other jobs while we focus on our placements, this funding is essential to making the student teaching process comfortable and accommodating to every kind of student teacher.

More than 3,400 student teachers have applied for stipends, but there is only enough funding for 600. Stipends were gone within a few hours, leaving this opportunity entirely up to chance for most applicants.

$45 million is needed to provide stipends to every student teacher in Pennsylvania. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created a similar program and funded it at $50 million in the 2023-24 fiscal year. That allowed every student teacher in the state to receive a stipend. If Michigan can do it, why can’t Pennsylvania?

What’s more? This is a small portion of Pennsylvania’s overall state budget.

Pennsylvania needs more teachers. This stipend is a fantastic way to encourage more young people to pursue careers in education.

After all, educators carry younger generations into the future, helping them to grow and fostering their knowledge and unique abilities. It is my belief that we should be providing these essential resources to help our students succeed.

If we encourage aspiring teachers to pursue their dreams through this assistance, then we are one step closer to achieving this goal.

Hannah Harvey

Bloomsburg

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