Illinois House votes to pay student teachers. Now they should get rid of Tier 2.
We are coming off a weekend where upwards of five million us took to the streets to demand the Trump/Musk administration keep their “hands off” and were then ignored by most of the mainstream media.
The Sunday New York Times put a picture of the huge New York march that stretched over twenty blocks below the fold on the front page and then a brief story way inside.
Other news outlets reported “scores” of protesters where we had thousands.
No matter. The Resistance is back.
Moving on to a story from my former home state of Illinois.
I was a teacher there for 30 years before retiring in 2012. And even though we have moved to Brooklyn this year, I still keep on eye on teacher news from back in the heartland.
The Illinois House has overwhelmingly passed a bill to have student teachers get paid for their work.
If passed by the Senate and signed by Governor Pritzker it would require the Illinois Board of Higher Education to distribute a stipend of up to $10,000 per semester for student teachers.
The legislation would also allow the Illinois State Board of Education to provide $2,000 per semester to eligible cooperating teachers.
At a time when recruiting and keeping teachers in the profession is a struggle, the cost of teacher preparation has always been an issue.
I recall that when I did my student teaching at Chicago’s Kelvyn Park High School on the north west side, with two young kids at home and Anne as our primary source of income, I was driving a cab at night just to afford groceries.
As of January, 2024, at least four states currently provide student teacher stipends.
Now that some student athletes can be paid before becoming professionals, we should at the least provide for our student teachers.
Also in Illinois, pressure is mounting to end the Tier 2 pension system for teachers and other public employees.
Enacted in 2010 and pushed by then Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan, the state created a second tier in the public pension systems for anyone hired after January 1 of 2011.
While Tier 2 teachers paid in the same amount into the pension system, they have to work longer, retiree later and receive less.
It is notable that my union, the Illinois Education Association, had up to that time refused to bargain any changes in the teacher pension system. At the state representative assembly of the union, they signaled the Speaker that that policy would change.
Days later Tier 2 passed the legislature.
Good one, brother Fred.