Student teachers should be compensated for their hard work

After three years of college, I’m finally putting my knowledge to the test with my dream age group: middle schoolers. Every weekday, I am at school from about 7:40 a.m. until 3:45 p.m., sometimes earlier or later for meetings, helping my teacher with grading, lesson planning, teaching and classroom management. 

Anything you can think of an educator doing, I am doing it for free. That’s not the entire truth. I am paying to do this. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love student teaching and cannot wait to do it with a salary and my own classroom. Student teaching has shown me that I chose the right career. Despite this, it is frustrating that I pay for the full amount of credits and class load at Augustana but only spend 40 hours a week at school, never on campus and rarely with professors. I am on my own. 

Student teachers get college credit for student teaching, but that should at least lead to a reduced tuition price when one is only taking an online class and expected to study and teach during that time. Student teachers should be paid for their efforts since it is like a full-time internship, and there is little time outside of student teaching for additional jobs to pay for necessities like food and rent. 

Education professors strongly recommend that students do not commit to part-time jobs or extracurriculars that could conflict with student teaching or cause them to be extra tired or irritable during that job, which makes sense — teaching takes a lot of work and energy. There are many days when I come home happy yet exhausted and need a major brain-break. 

I originally wanted to continue my two part-time jobs, tutoring and chapel staff at Augustana; however, after starting student teaching in early August, I soon realized working all at the same time would be impossible.

Many are unaware of how much student teachers do — it is essentially an unpaid, full-time internship. Imagine interning at a bank or a lab, yet you’re working full-time hours, doing nearly the same amount of work as employees… and you’re paying tuition to do it. This process is what student teachers undergo for an entire semester, sometimes longer. 

While student teaching, college students have expenses along with tuition, like food and rent, if they live off campus. Even if living on campus, like me, student teachers cannot eat on-campus breakfast or lunch due to scheduling, so they need to buy groceries or pay for meals at school placements. These additional expenses combined with tuition can be quite stressful without a consistent income. 

I should clarify that student teaching is unpaid in most places, but not everywhere. Some school districts, such as Sioux Falls, have started offering $1,000 stipends to student teachers in “target areas,” which include special education, math, science and music. Unfortunately, I am teaching English Language Arts, so I do not make the cut. 

According to the National Education Association, other universities across the country have started offering larger stipends. Education majors at Texas State University were given $20,000. In 2023, Maryland passed the Educator Shortage Act which provides a similar stipend to their student teachers who qualify for federal grants. At least three other states, including Colorado, Michigan and Oklahoma have started offering stipends ranging from $3,250 - $22,000. 

Although some states and colleges have started to pay student teachers for their efforts, many do not. Student teachers should receive compensation, whether that be money or cheaper tuition while teaching. It is frustrating to be working hard and continue to lose money throughout the semester.