Legislators Hear Results from Student‑Teacher Stipend Pilot; One‑Time $12M Request Proposed, National Board Funding Also Discussed

Representative Peterson presented an appropriation request tied to stipends for student teachers and summarized early results from a pilot created by prior legislation.

Peterson said last year’s legislation (House Bill 221) created the stipend program and that this year’s request—filed under an appropriation for the Future Educators grant program amendments (HB 204, as announced in the presentation)—is a one‑time ask of $12,000,000 to fund the remaining two years of a three‑year pilot. She described the stipend as a $6,000 payment “that teachers can get the semester that they do full time student teaching.” Peterson told the committee, “As of 2 weeks ago, over 1300 teachers had received the stipend for this school year and they range all across the state.” She said the request is set up as a one‑time expenditure drawn from stabilization funds for the next two years and that the program will be…