Student teachers deserve to be paid for their labor. Will new legislation be enough?
Gov. Andy Beshear signed House Bill 377 into action on April 4. The bill was designed to counteract statewide teacher shortages by making college education programs more accessible to students. It established the Teacher Recruitment Student Loan Forgiveness Pilot Program and the Student Teacher Stipend Program, offering student teachers a stipend of up to $5,000.
“Enrollment in Kentucky’s teacher prep program is down 37% from a decade ago,” according to Jess Clark of Louisville Public Media. Currently, one of the largest barriers to becoming a teacher is financial strain from college tuition. When one undergoes student teaching, they are expected to take on as much classroom responsibility as possible to gain a full understanding of the role of a teacher and the unwavering work ethic required. While mentor teachers still act as the principal instructor, with the majority of the workload, student teachers are still deserving of compensation for their efforts.
Student teachers are overworked and unpaid
With a daily workload of college courses and over seven hours of unpaid work, five days a week (not including non-contracted hours spent grading papers, attending meetings, creating lesson plans and completing paperwork), most student teachers are unable to retain a full or part-time job to support themselves during the school year. This can lead to an alarming percentage of teachers in student loan debt, with a national average of $58,700 per teacher—almost double the average starting teacher salary in Kentucky (Hershcopf, 2021).
Pollio is right, Kentucky education is scary. That's why state lawmakers have stepped in.
With droves of teachers leaving the profession for a myriad of reasons, it is imperative to incentivise education as a career and make necessary legislative changes teachers have requested for decades. This begs the question: Will HB 377 be enough to retain current Kentucky educators and fill roughly 11,000 vacancies? One thing is for certain, with societal changes demanding fair and equitable compensation for labor and the national student debt crisis creeping towards $2 trillion, many college students will opt for careers outside of education if unpaid semesters of student teaching result in starting their careers in debt.
Olivia Andrews is a graduate student at the University of Louisville pursuing a degree in Music Education. She is a passionate advocate for Kentucky students and educators. Olivia is also involved in the Miss Kentucky Scholarship Organization and will be competing for the title of Miss Kentucky as Miss University of Louisville.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: New legislation finally pays student teachers. Is it enough?
