NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee has faced more than 7,000 teaching vacancies statewide in recent years, resulting in larger class sizes and emergency teaching licenses for people without full qualifications. Now, state lawmakers are considering legislation that could help fill those classroom vacancies by treating student teachers like paid interns.
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) is proposing legislation that would provide stipends to student teachers during their required semester of unpaid classroom experience.
"There should be a stipend in there for them as they do their student teaching," Sexton said. "We want them to be successful but also making sure they don't have to go work a second or third job to make ends meet."
The proposal addresses a significant financial barrier that prevents many potential teachers from entering the profession. During student teaching, aspiring educators must work full-time in classrooms without pay while still covering living expenses.
"Students don't always have the ability to just take a semester off from paying bills," said Kristin Baese, associate professor of teaching education at Lipscomb University's College of Education.
Baese supports the proposal, saying it could expand the pool of teaching candidates.
"Thinking about a policy where a teacher could earn a paycheck and still become a teacher just gives a lot more opportunity for a lot wider group of candidates to consider this profession," Baese said.
J.C. Bowman with Professional Educators of Tennessee has advocated for similar legislation since 2019. He points to international examples as models for success.
"International countries like Finland, Singapore, all these other countries that are being successful, Australia, they are already doing this," Bowman said.
Under Sexton's plan, the state would fund the stipends rather than placing the financial burden on individual school districts. He believes the proposal could move forward through the new TISA funding formula despite what appears to be a lean budget year.
"You try to find what you think is really important and you try to find the funding or have the funding that does it. So, I think this is something that I would consider to be a priority in education," Sexton said.
Baese believes the policy would send an important message to potential teachers from diverse backgrounds
"We want to honor a wider pool of applicants and say you could consider teaching even if you have kids at home, if you have mouths to feed, even if you have bills to pay," Baese said.
Different educational requirements?
Speaker Sexton is also considering more controversial legislation that would allow individuals with associate degrees to become fully licensed teachers. Under that proposal, those teachers would still need to maintain their grades and pass the PRAXIS exam.
"It’ll be a two year program designed for a classroom teacher to do grades K-6. They would still have to pass an ACT, they’d still have to be accepted into community college, they would still have to make the appropriate exam, they’d still have student teaching and they’d still have to pass the PAXIS exam," Sexton told us.
However, Bowman opposes that idea, saying the state should focus on attracting top teaching prospects rather than lowering qualification standards.
The Tennessee General Assembly reconvenes January 13, 2026.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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