Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi's bill aims to alleviate California's teacher shortage by providing financial support for aspiring teachers during their required year of student teaching. Currently, around 28,000 individuals work for free while fulfilling credentialing requirements, causing financial strain and potentially deterring lower-income candidates from entering the profession. The cost of teacher credential programs can reach up to $40,000, leading many to incur substantial debt. With an average starting salary of $58,000, new teachers often struggle financially, highlighting the need for legislative support in education training.
We lived on my husband's pathetic little paycheck. I don't know how we did it, Hunter said. And we were lucky he had a job and my loans weren't that bad.
Nothing makes a bigger difference in improving the quality of public education than getting highly qualified teachers in the classroom, Muratsuchi said. This bill helps remove some of the obstacles to that.
During that time, candidates work with veteran teachers or lead their own classes. Teacher credential programs cost between $20,000 and $40,000, depending on where a student enrolls.
The average starting teacher salary in California is $58,000, according to the National Education Association, among the highest in the country but still hard to live on in many parts of the state.
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