State officials and teachers union members Wednesday announced the launch of a program that will provide five-figure stipends to student teachers in Pennsylvania in an effort to bolster the number of educators in the state.
The Pennsylvania Student Teacher Support Program will provide student teachers with $10,000 stipends for their 12-week placements starting in the 2024-25 school year. Student teachers in high-need areas will qualify for an additional $5,000.
Enrollment in the program opens Thursday at pheaa.org/studentteacher. Applicants must be enrolled in an approved state Department of Education Educator Preparation Program at a higher education institution in the commonwealth and must commit to working as teachers in Pennsylvania for at least three years after completing their studies.
“We want more Pennsylvanians to become teachers, and that’s why we fought to include $10 million for student teacher stipends in last year’s budget and why my budget this year boosts funding for the Student Teacher Support Program to $15 million,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a news conference. “This investment is common sense, and it has strong bipartisan support. Let’s come together to increase our support for our new teachers and show Pennsylvanians that their state government is working for them.”
Pennsylvania — like many states around the country — has experienced a shortage of teachers in recent years as many educators have left the field and fewer have entered it.
According to the state, Pennsylvania regularly certified 20,000 new teachers annually up until 10 years ago. In 2023, the state certified just 5,000 new teachers.
There are currently 5,500 teacher vacancies in the state, according to the governor’s office.
The state said it intends for the program to help correct the teacher shortage by addressing the financial strain caused by student teaching requirements.
“The Student Teacher Support Program is needed now more than ever,” said Amber Bloom, vice president of Student Pennsylvania State Education Association and a student at Pitt-Greensburg. “We began talking about this idea among our Student PSEA leaders after we heard from so many members struggling with the costs of commuting to and working in student teaching placements.
“Student teachers often have to give up part-time jobs in order to give their student teaching the attention it deserves,” she continued. “I have friends who have struggled just to afford the commute to their student teaching placements, which can be an hour or more each way. There are talented young people who would like nothing more than to become teachers but simply cannot afford to make ends meet while completing a 12-week unpaid student teaching placement.”
The bipartisan support for the program was reflected in the elected officials who attended Wednesday’s news conference, including state Sens. Wayne Fontana, D-Allegheny; Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia; and Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster; and state Reps. Gina Curry, D-Delaware, and Jesse Topper, R-Bedford/Fulton.
The program will be administered through the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency and will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis.
“PHEAA is pleased to be a partner with the Shapiro administration and of the General Assembly on the rollout of the new PA Student Teacher Support Program, which will provide a lifeline for rising teachers,” said Fontana, PHEAA board chairman. “By providing financial support to support teachers, we are not only investing in the future of education but also addressing the critical teacher shortage in this commonwealth. As the governor says — this is the kind of stuff that we all need to come together to get done.”
Andrew writes about education and more for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at agoldstein@unionprogress.com.