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State internship pay for school psychologists called inadequate as programs report interns leaving
Summary
University programs and association leaders told the Senate panel that funding for school‑psychology internships has lagged while teacher minimums rose, leaving interns effectively underpaid and driving some to take internships out of state.
University faculty and the Ohio School Psychologists Association told the Senate Education Committee that the state‑funded school‑psychology intern program is underfunded and that the flat appropriation has left interns with effective take‑home pay well below comparable starting teacher salaries.
Rachel Chilton, executive director of the Ohio School Psychologists Association, said the line item has been flat‑funded for years and interns typically receive below $30,000 for a full‑time supervised year of school work. Chilton told the committee the association requests an increase to $4,300,000 per fiscal year to bring intern salaries closer to the intended teacher‑minimum schedule and to sustain 100+ intern placements statewide.
Why it matters: Committee testimony said interns provide direct services to thousands of students during their placements. Chilton cited program analysis showing interns collectively delivered tier‑1, tier‑2 and tier‑3 interventions to large student groups and warned that other states are offering substantially higher internship stipends — creating a risk Ohio might lose trainee capacity to neighboring states.
What committee heard: A school‑psychology educator testified that graduates who cannot afford the internship year either drop out of programs or go to other states for better pay. Witnesses asked the committee to fund an increase that would raise intern stipends to parity with first‑year teacher compensation and preserve the pipeline of school psychologists for Ohio’s public schools.
Ending: The committee received the request and asked follow‑up technical questions about program capacity and the number of interns that would be supported by the proposed increase; no vote was taken.
