Legislation that advanced out of the state House Education Committee proposes paying student teachers in Pennsylvania a $10,000 stipend in exchange for assisting in addressing the state’s teacher shortage, writes Jan Murphy for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

House Bill 1331, which received a 20-1 vote on Tuesday, would pay an additional $5,000 to those who decide to take a student teaching assignment in a school that has trouble attracting student teachers or has a lot of openings for teacher positions.

This would represent an extra incentive to work in “a district that is a little bit more challenged,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Danielle Otten of Chester County.

To receive the grant, the student teacher would have to accept to work at a public or nonpublic school in Pennsylvania for a minimum of three years, outside of extenuating circumstances. The mentoring teacher would also receive a grant of $2,500.

The need for such a law is obvious in the numbers: just 5,000 new teaching certificates were issued in Pennsylvania last year, which is less than a third of over 17,000 certificates issued in 2011.

Read more about the proposed bill in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Pennsylvania educators and students rally in Harrisburg.