HARRISBURG – Bipartisan legislation will be introduced by Lancaster County Sen. Ryan Aument and Sen. Vincent Hughes of Philadelphia County to create a student teacher stipend program. Currently, student teachers are unpaid for their required student teaching. Traditionally, a person participating in student teaching either must quit their job or work an additional job after spending the entire day teaching. Studies have shown that many school districts fill teaching vacancies from the pool of student teachers who taught in that school district. A co-sponsorship memo from both lawmakers says the proposal would create a new Educator Pipeline Program within the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency or PHEAA to provide stipends for those enrolled in a teacher preparation program at an institution of higher education in PA to complete their student teaching requirement. Data showed the number of teachers being certified in PA annually plummeted from 20,000 per year to fewer than 7,000 from 2010 to 2020.
SEN. VINCENT HUGHES
SEN. RYAN AUMENT