A bill has passed the Michigan House of Representatives that would allow for both student teachers and teacher mentors to be compensated.
House Bill 6013 was introduced by State Representative Pamela Hornberger, a Republican from Chesterfield Township. The bill creates a grant program for school districts, intermediate school districts, and public school academies to apply for and to use to pay the student educators and their mentors.
Student teachers currently pay tuition to student teach, which is usually an uncompensated full-time internship. If passed by the Senate and signed into law by the governor, the bill would allow for student teachers to be paid $90 per day, and for mentors to be paid a stipend of $1000.
Hornberger said, “Student teachers are apprentices in the education field and should be compensated just as apprentices in other fields are. Providing this stipend to them will ensure our students continue to receive a quality education from good teachers.”
The legislature will have to appropriate funding if signed into law, and it is not currently tied to a funding bill. The bill is supported by several education industry boards and associations
Reporting for WGRT- Jennie McClelland
