Illinoisans overwhelmingly support a paid student teaching program in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD - A 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 portion of their education.

A poll of 1,000 Illinoisans conducted by Normington Petts and Associates and Next Generation Strategies in late January asked: "As 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?"

A total of 72% said they favored the idea, 20% were opposed and the remainder were unsure.

In addition, the Illinois Education Association (IEA), which is the largest education union in Illinois, surveyed its own members - both those in college studying to become teachers and those in the first five years of their careers. Nearly half of the respondents said they were unable to work 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 additional loans;
• 40% were prohibited from working an additional job 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 wouldn't be able to pay their tuition;
• 69% were concerned about paying for a professional wardrobe;
• And, 98% said being paid while they were practicing to become a teacher would have eased those concerns.

"So many students must complete an internship in order to prepare for their future careers and in many cases, those internships are paid. But not teachers. For whatever reason, society has come to expect teachers to prepare for their careers by sacrificing their financial security," said IEA President Karl Goeke.

"We are in the midst of 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 feed and they cannot take a semester, or two, to work for no pay. We must do better by our educators."

The Illinois House has already passed a bill that would allow student teachers to be paid 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.

"It's time for Illinois to put its money where its mouth is," Koehler said. "We say we value education. We should also value those who work in education. We worry we don't have enough teachers to educate our children and this measure could truly help solve that problem."

Hernandez said it isn't fair to put more financial stress on students studying to be teachers. "So many of our college students are already taking out loans to become educators. Why are we adding to that financial burden? If we want 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. Finances are often one of the main reasons people leave the profession. Let's give them reason to stay."

Anabella Chlada, an Illinois State University student who is studying to be a special education teacher and who chairs the IEA's Aspiring Educator program, said she must work two semesters as a student teacher for her program.

"I cannot wait to become an educator. I truly feel called to do this work," Chlada said. "But there is no doubt that student teaching is a full-time commitment without pay, and that reality is incredibly stressful. 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."

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The 135,000 member Illinois Education Association (IEA-NEA) is the state's 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.