KCSOS Helps Power State’s New Student Teacher Stipend Program

For aspiring teachers, getting through student teaching has long come with a difficult reality — hundreds of required hours in the classroom, often without a paycheck.

California is investing $708 million through 2032 to help change that through the new Student Teacher Stipend Program (STSP), with KCSOS playing a key role in helping bring the statewide effort to life.

The investment is expected to support approximately 12,500 eligible teacher candidates each year with a one-time $10,000 stipend while they complete the classroom-based clinical practice required to earn a teaching credential.

For those pursuing credentials in high-need fields such as science, math and special education, an additional $5,000 stipend will become available beginning with the 2027-28 school year.

As California prepared to roll out the investment in the summer of 2025, KCSOS was tapped to partner with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) on three major pieces of the effort.

The project includes building a system used to administer the stipends, getting the word out through a statewide multimedia campaign, and developing a way to evaluate whether the investment was successful.

The work has brought together expertise from across KCSOS and longtime organizational partners, including Communications, Fiscal Support, Governmental Relations and Teacher Development.

“The incentive has the potential to open the door for people who want to become teachers but may not have been able to afford the financial sacrifice that comes with student teaching,” said Malaika Bryant, Executive Director of Educator Development at KCSOS.

Removing that barrier, Bryant emphasized, can help more aspiring educators complete their preparation and ultimately enter the teaching profession, where the need for new educators remains especially acute in the Central Valley.

The first phase of the project was building the infrastructure needed to administer the stipend program statewide. Longtime KCSOS consultant Jim Damien and his company, Linean, developed the Grant Management System that the CTC began using this summer to accept and manage applications.

With the system in place, the project turned to awareness. KCSOS Senior Director of Communications Rob Meszaros is leading the statewide multimedia campaign in partnership with CTC and Sacramento-based marketing firm Mediasol, which was retained following a competitive bidding process last fall.

Known as Teach for California, the campaign includes short-form social videos, paid digital advertising, streaming video, influencer partnerships, earned media, educator stories and outreach through schools, colleges and other education partners. At the center is Teachforcalifornia.com, where prospective educators can explore credential pathways and financial assistance, hear from California teachers, and connect with resources to help them take the next step toward the classroom.

Behind the scenes, KCSOS Chief Governmental Relations Officer Carlos Rojas helped guide the project from its inception, providing insight into the legislative and policy framework behind the initiative and helping coordinate its implementation with state partners.

“This has been a true team effort, both across KCSOS and with our partners at the CTC,” Rojas said. “It shows what’s possible when we bring the right people together around a shared goal.”

Meanwhile, KCSOS Assistant Superintendent of Fiscal Support Jon Medina has been working with the CTC to retain a research firm that will eventually evaluate the initiative. The findings will help the state Legislature assess the effectiveness and impact of California’s educator recruitment and workforce investments.

“At the end of the day, this is about helping more people see teaching as a possibility for themselves and giving them the support to make it there,” Bryant said. “Every new teacher who reaches the classroom has the potential to change the lives of California students for years to come.”