SPRINGFIELD 鈥撎鼳 bipartisan poll conducted in January shows that 72% of Illinoisans strongly support the idea of paying college students as they complete the mandatory student teaching听portion听of their education.
A poll of 1,000 Illinoisans conducted by Normington Petts and Associates and Next Generation Strategies in late January asked: 鈥淎s you may know, student teaching is often a full-time position, yet many student teachers do not get paid for their work. Do you favor or oppose paying a stipend of $10,000 per semester, or $20,000 for a full school year?鈥�
A total of听72% said听they听favored the idea,听20% were听opposed听and听the听remainder听were unsure.
In addition, the 黑料视频听(IEA), which is the largest education听union in听Illinois,听surveyed its own members 鈥� both those in college studying to become teachers and those in the first five years of their careers.听Nearly half听of the respondents said听they were unable to听work听and another 41% said they could only work part-time, causing them financial concerns.
The survey also showed:
- 48% relied on relatives for support and 15% sought out听additional听loans;
- 40% were prohibited from working听an听additional听job听by their institution of higher education;
- 84% said they experienced added stress over their financial status while student teaching;
- 42% faced concerns over being able to pay for housing while student teaching;
- 49% worried about being able to afford food;
- 57% worried about paying for transportation;
- 58% fretted they听wouldn鈥檛听be able to pay their tuition;
- 69% were concerned about paying for a professional wardrobe;
- And,听98% said being paid while they were practicing听to become听a teacher would have eased those concerns.
鈥淪o many students must complete an internship听in order to听prepare for their future careers and in many cases, those internships are听paid.听But听not teachers. For whatever reason, society has come to expect teachers to prepare for their careers by sacrificing their financial security,鈥� said IEA President Karl听Goeke.
鈥淲e are听in the midst of听a teacher shortage in this country. This is one more way we could fix that problem. We know we have people working as support staff in schools who study on the side to become full-time teachers, but they have bills to pay and children to听feed听and they cannot take a semester, or two, to work for no pay. We must do better by our educators.鈥�
The Illinois听House听has already passed a bill that would allow student teachers to be听paid听and the bill is currently pending in the Senate. House Bill 1375 has been introduced by Rep. Barbara Hernandez and Sen. David Koehler that could allow the House to do the same.
鈥淚t鈥檚 time for Illinois to put its money where its mouth is,鈥� Koehler said. 鈥淲e say we value education. We should also value those who work in education. We worry we听don鈥檛听have enough teachers to educate our听children听and this measure could truly help solve that problem.鈥�
Hernandez said it听isn鈥檛听fair to put more financial stress on students studying to be teachers. 鈥淪o many of our college students are already taking out loans to become educators. Why are we听adding to听that financial burden?听If we want听the best of the best in classrooms educating our children, we have to give them reason to want to become teachers and to stay in the profession.听Finances are听often one of the main reasons people leave听the听profession.听Let鈥檚听give them reason to stay.鈥�
Anabella听Chlada, an Illinois State University student who is studying to be a special education teacher and who chairs the听IEA鈥檚听Aspiring Educator program, said she must work two semesters as a student teacher for her program.
鈥淚 cannot wait to become an educator. I truly feel called to do this work,鈥澨鼵hlada听said. 鈥淏ut there is no doubt that听student teaching is a full-time commitment without pay, and that reality is incredibly stressful.听Balancing coursework while working more than eight hours a day in the classroom leaves little time to earn income outside of school. I feel the strain personally, and I see the toll it has taken on my classmates and Aspiring Educators across Illinois.鈥�
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The 135,000 member 黑料视频 (IEA-NEA) is the state鈥檚 largest union. IEA represents Pre K-12 teachers outside the city of Chicago and education support staff, higher education faculty, retired education employees and students preparing to become teachers, statewide.
