Today, the United States faces a deep crisis in education. Literacy rates are declining, teachers are leaving the profession in droves, the Trump administration is preparing to abolish special education and public education itself is under political attack. According to the National Literacy Institute, 54% of American adults read below a sixth-grade level, and 64% of fourth graders are not proficient in reading. Instead of addressing these problems, state and federal governments are doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing: making it harder to become a teacher. Massachusetts does not pay its student teachers. 

Student teachers are university students completing the final stage of their education training. To earn a teaching license, they must complete between 150 and 300 hours of supervised classroom work in local schools. In Massachusetts, undergraduates spend their entire final semester as full-time student teachers, working the same hours and carrying the same responsibilities as licensed teachers. Yet, unlike licensed teachers, they receive no pay — not even a stipend to cover basic expenses like transportation or food. A few states have made small steps in the right direction. Colorado, for instance, offers student teachers an $11,000 stipend for a 16-week program. But this remains the exception, not the rule. 

Many student teachers must balance full-time classroom responsibilities with additional jobs just to afford rent and groceries. Teaching is already one of the most demanding careers; no one should have to work another job on top of it simply to survive. 

This creates a major barrier for aspiring educators, especially those from low-income and minority backgrounds. At a time when the United States. faces a serious teacher shortage, we are making it harder for people to enter the profession. 

It doesn’t stop there. Even after student teachers earn their licenses, economic insecurity continues. Teachers in the United States work an average of 53 hours a week — seven hours more than the national average — and yet 17% still hold second jobs to make ends meet. Burnout is rampant, and turnover rates are high. For Black teachers, the situation is even worse: They are disproportionately affected by stress, underpayment and discrimination, making them more likely to leave the profession altogether. The far-right’s assaults on public education, from “Don’t Say Gay” laws to book bans, are also part of a broader campaign to weaken critical thinking and suppress marginalized voices. 

It’s no surprise that fewer people are entering teaching. The crisis in recruitment and retention is not a mystery. It’s not a difficult and complex problem, as lawmakers who refuse to take action present it to be; it’s a consequence of chronic underfunding, austerity and disrespect. 

This fight goes beyond just one profession. The struggle for paid student teaching is part of a larger battle against the neoliberal order that treats education as a cost, rather than a public good. Across the country, governments slash funding for schools while pouring billions into war and corporate subsidies. The same system that denies student teachers a living wage hands massive profits to weapons manufacturers and billionaires.

This is the logic of austerity: to extort as much labor as possible from workers while paying them as little as possible. It’s the logic of a capitalist system in decay, one that spits on those who build everything while squeezing every effort out of them. 

That’s why student teachers, alongside chapters of Aspiring Educators across Massachusetts, are organizing for paid student teaching. We are currently sending letters to Massachusetts lawmakers explaining why student teachers deserve to be paid. Please help us do that by signing the petition linked on The Justice website for paid student teaching. Politicians frequently claim they “support teachers,” but empty words don’t fill stomachs or pay rent. Real support means material investment. 

Paying student teachers isn’t just fair — it’s necessary. If we truly value education, we must treat educators with dignity from the very beginning of their careers. 

Pay student teachers!

Dignified wages for all!