Student Teacher Stipends are Working. Let’s Keep the Momentum Going
Kristina Akselsen always knew that she wanted to be a math teacher.
Her path took some twists and turns along the way: she was an applied health science major in college and thought about a career in physical therapy. But she just wasn’t as passionate about it, and she kept coming back to math and teaching.
Inspired by an enthusiastic high school math teacher who made learning fun, interesting, and relatable, she dreamed of creating that same spark for her own students some day.
But, like so many aspiring educators in Pennsylvania, Krstina’s journey to the classroom was far from easy. She had to find other ways to make ends meet as she also juggled coursework, credentialing, and unpaid student teaching. She saw many of her peers being forced off the path of teaching and into other industries that provided steady pay as they learned and trained.
The results for Pennsylvania have been disastrous.
Our teacher pipeline has collapsed. Teacher certifications have dropped by 70% in PA over the last decade or so and teacher attrition is increasing.
It’s why the Student Teacher Stipend is so important.
In the last few years, the legislature created and funded the student teacher stipend so that student teachers have access to money while they do their student teaching.
Because of the student teacher stipend, Kristina was able to focus on her work as a student teacher, learn and absorb the lessons.
She will be ready to give her all to her students and share her skills and knowledge with them because she was supported and able to learn and train herself, without stress.
But not everyone has had access to these funds. With the legislature and the administration in budget negotiations, we need them to continue to support the program with an investment of $50-55 million annually so all student teachers are paid for their work.
Teaching is too important for our commonwealth.
We need more math teachers, science teachers, and social study teachers.
We need teachers like Kristina who have thought about walking into their own classroom filled with students since they were students themselves.
And we need legislators to know that the student teacher stipend allows our future educators to focus more on their student teaching and dedicate the amount of effort and attention it deserves.
Kristina’s story is just one example of how targeted investments can strengthen our teacher workforce. And because of the enthusiasm teachers like Kristina bring into the classroom, she will no doubt inspire a future teacher who is sitting in her classroom on the first day of school, ready to learn and feeling inspired by her energy to become a teacher themselves.
