Senate committee hears bill to pilot stipends for student teachers

Chair Lou Frederick and the Senate Committee on Education heard testimony March 3 on Senate Bill 717, a measure that would direct the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) to create a one-year pilot program providing stipends to student teachers and pay to mentor teachers during the 2026-27 school year.

Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Gresham, the bill sponsor, told the committee the stipend pilot aims to ease a financial barrier that drives prospective educators away. “Senate Bill 717 helps incentivize teaching,” Gorsek said. “We have schools with class sizes pushing 40 or more. We have failing literacy rates and we need more teachers to assist with all of this.”

The bill text requires HECC to establish the pilot; during testimony Gorsek said Pacific University plans to host the first pilot and asked a technical amendment to remove language that limited the pilot to a public university. The bill as described also sets prioritization criteria: student teachers from underrepresented backgrounds, placements in rural districts, and student teachers working in special education or STEM fields.

Why it matters: advocates told the committee that unpaid student teaching creates a financial hardship that narrows who can become a teacher and contributes to early-career exits. “A full year without income is not just an inconvenience, it is a significant financial hardship,” said Maddie Wilson, president of the Oregon Education Association Aspiring Educator Council and an aspiring teacher at Western Oregon University. She and other student teachers described working multiple jobs, taking loans and relying on family support to complete unpaid placements.

Pacific University and higher-education representatives framed the pilot as researchable and comparable to programs in other states. Andy Saltz, interim dean of Pacific University’s College of Education, encouraged passage, noting other states already pay student teachers and that “student teaching is a critical part in the journey in learning how to teach” and is “an incredibly time-intensive endeavor.”

Testimony described the pilot as targeted: the bill would prioritize candidates from underrepresented groups and placements in rural districts or in high-need subjects, with the stated goal of improving recruitment and retention in shortage areas. Sponsors said the measure is limited in duration: committee testimony indicated the authorization applies to the 2026-27 school year and the pilot would be repealed after one year.

No committee vote or final action on SB 717 was recorded during the hearing. The committee closed the SB 717 hearing and proceeded to a public hearing on a different bill. Written testimony for committee hearings generally remains available through the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS).