It's time to pay future teachers

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I fell in love with teaching while working as an assistant educator at a preschool 16 years ago. I hadn't studied education, so I enrolled in an alternative certification program designed specifically for people who were already working in education. It had many advantages: night classes, minimal tuition, and most importantly, I didn't need to leave my job. My classroom, where I planned to continue teaching after student teaching, even counted toward my student teaching requirements. That program made a teaching license and a master's degree accessible.

Meanwhile, my coworker Liv still hasn't gotten her license. When she started as a teaching assistant in my classroom almost five years ago, she was nearing the end of her teacher preparation program and only needed to complete the student teaching requirement. To this day, teaching her as a student has remained out of reach for her.

This is because their program requires 11 weeks of student teaching and specifies that candidates cannot be paid. Liv already works at a preschool and, as she said, “leaving a job for three months is really challenging.” She depends on her income and health insurance sponsored by her employer.

Liv's situation is not unique. While many other professions have transitioned to paid internships or apprenticeships, student teaching remains largely unpaid. Many teacher education programs that prohibit paid student teaching offer no explanation for this practice; others justify it by saying that the requirement is part of the learning experience.

Given the current teacher shortage, it is time to rethink the teacher preparation and certification process. This is especially true in the early childhood space, where retention and advancement are notorious problems.

Student teaching must be authentic and valuable. It shouldn't be a financial burden, especially for people already working in the field. Paraprofessionals, unlicensed lead teachers, child care providers, and teaching assistants like Liv make up a large pool of racially and economically diverse teacher candidates. These educators are prepared to perform essential functions. Additionally, their presence in classrooms will promote diversity and equity in the field. Removing any barriers that prevent your progress makes sense in all aspects.

Here in Illinois, the State Board of Education specifies that prospective teachers can be paid for teaching students. While not all teacher certification programs have come on board, there has been progress. The Grow Your Own and teacher residency programs provide limited financial support, and the Early Childhood Education Access Consortium, or ECACE, allows participants to complete their student teaching at their workplace if the teacher and site meet certain state and university requirements.

Recent data indicate that most programs participating in ECACE allow such flexibility for at least some portion of student instruction. Remaining programs should adjust their policies to allow the same flexibility for people already working in the field.

In a recent report from Teach Plus Illinois Early Childhood Policy Fellows, my colleagues and I recommended ways the state board of education, universities, and other stakeholders can further reduce barriers to student teaching. All programs should allow students to be paid for tuition. To achieve this standard, the state must explicitly prohibit programs from preventing paid student instruction. For tenured educators, that could mean having students teach for their regular workplace pay.

Allowing educators to teach students where they work would not require additional funding. It would require fewer transitions and offer more stability for children. Additionally, schools would not need to fill positions temporarily while staff left to teach students elsewhere. For people who do not currently work in a classroom, the state or individual school districts must provide stipends to future teachers. The Teacher Vacancy Grant Pilot Program offers an avenue for school districts to financially support future teachers as a way to strengthen teacher pools.

Teachers, educational organizations and the Illinois Education Association have drafted a state bill, HB4652, to establish a stipend program for student teachers in Illinois. If approved and fully funded, it would provide a $10,000 stipend for a full semester of student teaching.

As a Teach Plus Fellow, I worked with other educators, researching the history and current policies around teaching students and surveying educators about their needs. Our research-based recommendations helped inform this bill.

Due to the flexibility of my alternative certification program, I obtained my professional educator license and became a lead teacher. It has given me a stronger voice in the classroom and school, a higher salary, and the ability to help others on their career paths.

But five years after joining our class, Liv is still waiting for her teaching license. We need to make changes to allow Liv and other teacher candidates to advance their careers and help fill teacher vacancies in Illinois.

chalk beat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

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