(LEX 18) — Kentucky lawmakers are pushing for a change that would pay student teachers during their mandatory training.
Nationwide, schools have struggled to keep up with an ongoing shortage of teachers. Lawmakers have proposed a host of solutions to help.
House Bill 377 was introduced this month in the legislature, hoping to add money to the state's next budget for stipends students can use as income during their 70-day classroom training.
Brooklyn Owens, a senior attending Berea College, says it's attractive.
"That would be really significant," said Owens.
Owens has already been helping at a local high school and has plans to begin her required training for certification in the fall.
"During student teaching, I'm going to be there from like seven in the morning till like five in the afternoon," said Owens.
The full weeks of work would not have any financial benefit. While Owens says it wouldn't bother her, she thinks it would help those who can't work because of their training obligations.
The latest report revealed that 24.9% of teachers in Kentucky switched roles or left the profession last school year. There were also about 277 open teacher positions.
In addition, around 1,500 fewer students were completing traditional education studies programs like the one Owens is a part of at Berea College, an 11.6% decline according to the Kentucky Legislature's Office of Education Accountability (OEA).
Schools have reportedly relied on emergency certifications and substitutes.
House Bill 377, as written, would add $7.3 million to Kentucky's budget to pay student teachers about nine dollars an hour for their work.
While additional money may help, Owens believes a culture change focused on respect for teachers is what ultimately would make more of a difference.
"Teachers feel very limited. They feel like they're not being heard. They feel like they're not getting paid well, and so they leave, and everybody's like, there's this teacher shortage, but there's actually a shortage of respect for teachers," said Owens.
Regardless of what happens with the bill, Owens plans to continue school and return to Appalachia to teach high schoolers from her region.
