Current:Home > MarketsPennsylvania flooded by applications for student-teacher stipends in bid to end teacher shortage -FutureFinance
Pennsylvania flooded by applications for student-teacher stipends in bid to end teacher shortage
View
Date:2025-04-14 11:24:14
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state agency received thousands of applications Thursday for the state’s first-ever student-teacher stipends, many times more than the available stipends approved by lawmakers last year as a way to help fill a teacher shortage.
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency reported receiving 3,000 applications by 11 a.m., just two hours after the window for applications opened. The $10 million approved by lawmakers for the stipends last year, however, was only expected to serve about 650 student-teachers.
Stipends are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, the agency said.
To encourage more college students to become teachers, lawmakers created a program to give a stipend of at least $15,000 to student-teachers in districts that attract fewer student-teachers or have a high rate of open teaching positions. A student-teacher in other districts would receive a minimum stipend of $10,000.
Stipend recipients must commit to teaching in Pennsylvania for three years after completing their teaching certification.
The stipends are aimed at easing a hardship for college students finishing up a teaching degree who currently must teach in schools for 12 weeks without pay.
Numerous schools are having difficulty hiring or retaining teachers, and that student-teaching requirement prompts some college students to switch degree programs and pursue a different career, teachers’ unions say.
The state’s largest teachers’ union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said the response to the stipends shattered expectations.
“Unfortunately, this astonishing demand means that most students who applied for stipends won’t get them, because there is only $10 million available for the program this year,” the union’s president, Aaron Chapin, said in a statement.
Chapin said the state must increase funding for the program to $75 million next year to make sure every student-teacher who needs a stipend can get one.
veryGood! (1435)
Related
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- Wimbledon draw: Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz in same bracket; Iga Swiatek No. 1
- A San Francisco store is shipping LGBTQ+ books to states where they are banned
- 'American Ninja Warrior' winner Drew Drechsel sentenced to 10 years for child sex crimes
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- In Georgia, conservatives seek to have voters removed from rolls without official challenges
- 4 Nations Face-Off: US, Canada, Finland, Sweden name first players
- NBA power rankings: How every team stacks up after draft
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
- This week on Sunday Morning (June 30)
Ranking
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- Things to know about how Julian Assange and US prosecutors arrived at a plea deal to end his case
- Book excerpt: Marines look back on Iraq War 20 years later in Battle Scars
- Gena Rowlands, celebrated actor from A Woman Under the Influence and The Notebook, has Alzheimer's, son says
- Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
- Biden rallies for LGBTQ+ rights as he looks to shake off an uneven debate performance
- Watch: Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton face off during 'WWE SmackDown'
- Celebrate With Target’s 4th of July Deals on Red, White, and *Cute* Styles, Plus 50% off Patio Furniture
Recommendation
What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
ESPN’s Dick Vitale diagnosed with cancer for a 4th time with surgery scheduled for Tuesday
Jewell Loyd scores a season-high 34 points as Storm cool off Caitlin Clark and Fever 89-77
Class-action lawsuit claims Omaha Housing Authority violated tenants’ rights for years
Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
Lionel Messi to rest for Argentina’s final Copa America group match against Peru with leg injury
Film and TV crews spent $334 million in Montana during last two years, legislators told
Pink's Reaction to Daughter Willow Leaving Her Tour to Pursue Theater Shows Their True Love