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Lawmakers agree to fund paid student-teaching for FY25 while process questions remain
Summary
Budget negotiators agreed to fund paid student teaching for FY25 (roughly $2.65 million) but left open whether it is recurring; legislators emphasized the importance of staff and agency requests and flagged the need to examine long-term funding before converting one-time ESSER-funded programs to ongoing state obligations.
House and Senate negotiators debated continuation of a paid student-teaching program that had been supported with ESSER funds. After back-and-forth about whether the subcommittee decision had changed since April 29, members agreed to honor the subcommittee allocation and move the $2,650,000 line to recurring in the current negotiation, while noting future legislatures could revisit the line if needed.
Why it matters: Paid student-teaching is intended to encourage more teachers to enter classrooms by easing the financial burden of semester internships. Legislators acknowledged it as a program that could help teacher recruitment but said the fiscal implications require tracking: converting a temporary ESSER-funded program into a recurring appropriation creates a new long-term line item for subsequent budgets.
What was agreed: Chairs said subcommittee work supported continuing the program for FY25. One participant asked for the funding to be treated as recurring, and another confirmed the Senate could accept moving the item to recurring if the chambers agreed. The group noted that if future legislatures determine money has been misspent or the program is ineffective, it can be cut.
Next steps: Staff will reconcile whether the program is listed as agency request or committee initiative and will reflect the agreed treatment on the budget sheets for conference drafting.
