Harrisburg, PA − April 11, 2024 − Senator Vincent Hughes, Senator Ryan Aument, Governor Shapiro, Representative Gina Curry, Representative Jesse Topper, and PHEAA have announced that applications for student teacher stipends will open on Thursday, April 11, around 9AM for student teachers who will be placed during the 24-25 academic year.
Senator Hughes shared the following statement about the announcement and the importance of the PA Student Teacher Support Program.
“Today we celebrate the next milestone for PA’s new student teacher stipend program. This bipartisan program was introduced as a solution to Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage crisis.
Teachers do the most important job in the world, yet we don’t treat the profession like that.
Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen a 71% drop in the number of teachers who are getting certified in Pennsylvania, which has led to major shortages in communities across the Commonwealth. We know we need more teachers, and this program will help us fill the gap so many schools are feeling.
I’m proud to have worked with both Democratic and Republican colleagues, including Senator Aument and Reps. Otten, Curry, and Schweyer to get this legislation introduced in the Senate and House and across the finish line.
I’m grateful to Governor Shapiro for helping us get this program funded with $10M in the FY23-24 budget and for proposing $15M for student teacher stipends for the FY24-25 budget. A 50% increase in a new program is a big deal.
It took a collective effort to make this program a reality and it will take a collective effort to keep this program alive and funded to help even more student teachers well into the future. It’s estimated approximately 650 student teachers will get stipends from the $10M that was allocated, yet PDE estimates we’ll have thousands of student teachers in the 24-25 academic year. We must do more to fully fund this program. I will not stop working with my colleagues and all the education advocates who have advocated so hard to get us this far. We need to make this program big enough to support every student teacher who will be placed in a school in Pennsylvania.”
A full video of the announcement and press conference is available online.
