INDIANA, USA — A bill working its way through the Indiana legislature is looking to address the state's teacher shortages.
House Bill 1637 would raise the scholarship amounts for several teacher education programs in the state.
The bill passed out of the committee on education on Friday.
During testimony, Indiana educators said HB 1637 would allow for more aspiring teachers to get in the education field and help cut down the costs associated with getting a degree.
"Addressing the teacher shortage should be done through these methods such as this rather than lowering or removing the requirements to become a teacher," teacher Sara Craft said. "The key to alleviating our current teacher shortage is to train and retain professional educators."
Craft says the best way to achieve that goal is by making teacher preparation programs "more accessible to prospective educators."
Jerell Blakeley, with the Indiana State Teachers Association, pointed to this bill's impact on underrepresented groups in the teaching field.
"More than 93% of Hoosier educators are White and around 4% are Black," Blakeley said. "According to the US Department of Education data, only about 5% of teacher Black students enrolled in teacher preparation programs enter the profession and only 6% become licensed."
Blakely said the low percentage is in part due to the financial barriers to entry.
The bill will now go before the Ways and Means committee for further debate.
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