This fall, for the second semester in a row, I’m student teaching. It’s going well, thanks for asking. But along with the usual anxieties over curriculum, roster changes and figuring out what the heck I’m going to do with my classes for 55 minutes a day, I’m also waiting to find out whether I’m getting paid.
The answer is…possibly. Though as I’ve learned recently, it’s very much a game of wait-and-see.
A few weeks ago, I wrote an op-ed for EdSource about California’s brand new Student Teacher Stipend Program, which designates about $125 million per year in state funding to pay student teachers a one-time, $10,000 grant. As many in education know, student teaching has traditionally been an unpaid rite of passage for those entering the profession.
But it’s also a massive hardship for teacher candidates who struggle to squeeze in paying work while teaching and taking credentialing classes. One student teacher friend called the stipend “life changing.” But the devil’s in the details, as it so often is, and the rollout has been uneven and cloaked in a somewhat unnecessary air of mystery.
As it turns out, not all of us are getting paid because student teachers do not apply directly, but rather must wait for the districts or public charters they work at to apply for the funding with the state’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
Because the program is so new, figuring out which districts are applying — and thus probably planning to pay student teachers — has been a huge challenge. On a recent webinar, our college of education couldn’t answer even basic questions about which of us could expect to get paid.
So I decided to find out myself, filing a public records request with the CTC. I didn’t spend 12 years as an education journalist for nothing!
The data I received from the CTC hasn’t been made public until now. It can be found here in a Google sheet, unabridged, and was sent to me in three parts.
First, the bad news. Student teachers at Eureka USD, Bayshore Elementary School District, Aspire Charter Schools, and Manteca USD are likely not getting paid. They told the CTC they would not be participating in the program.
Next, I received a list of 130 districts and public charters who have already filled out an application to participate. Out of the top 25 largest school districts in the state, only 10 are on the list: Los Angeles USD, San Bernardino, Kern County, Irvine USD, Riverside USD, Garden Grove USD, Sweetwater USD, Fremont Unified, Twin Rivers USD, and Moreno Valley USD.
Other L.A.-area districts that have applied include: Glendale USD, Simi Valley USD, Downey Unified, Alhambra USD, Whittier Union High, and Claremont USD. (I’ll include a complete list of districts/charters who have applied at the end of this post).
While the data here is a start, it’s not exhaustive. As the CTC wrote in their email to me, “The number of LEAs completing applications increases daily.” Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
The CTC also provided an interesting, though somewhat less-useful, list of Local Education Agencies that have at least specified a point of contact for the stipend program. Over 800 did, including San Francisco USD, Fresno, San Diego, Sacramento, and nearby Elk Grove, along with many others. (An LEA is a broader administrative category that includes districts, county offices of education, public charters, etc.).
A final note: none of this money has yet reached student teachers. The first due date for colleges of education to send LEAs eligible student teacher names is August 31. From there, LEAs can start working on processing payments.
(Yes, it really is that convoluted. Per the website, colleges of education submit student teacher names to LEAs. Then districts/LEAs confirm this information. The CTC collects all this data and distributes funds to LEAs, who use the money to pay student teachers.)
Here I’ll just point out that in Pennsylvania student teachers simply apply for their grants individually, preventing a lot of headaches. But I digress. We live in California for the weather, I suppose. The bureaucracy is just a fun bonus.
Please share this with other student teachers, and let me know if you have any questions that might inform future stories about this topic.
Below is a list of the 130 LEAs that have submitted applications to participate in the stipend program as of Aug. 20, 2026 if you would like to search for yours.
ABC Unified
Alhambra Unified
Amador County Unified
Anaheim Union High
Apple Valley Unified
Arcadia Unified
Atwater Elementary
Bakersfield City
Beaumont Unified
Bellevue Union
Berkeley Unified
Berryessa Union Elementary
Brentwood Union
Burlingame Elementary
Burton Elementary
Cajon Valley Union
Cambrian
Carlsbad Unified
Ceres Unified
Charter Oak Unified
Chula Vista Elementary
Claremont Unified
Coast Unified
Cottonwood Union Elementary
Cucamonga Elementary
Dixon Unified
Downey Unified
East Side Union High
Encinitas Union Elementary
Escondido Union
Escondido Union High
Eureka City Schools
Folsom-Cordova Unified
Franklin-McKinley Elementary
Fremont Unified
Fullerton Elementary
Garden Grove Unified
Glendale Unified
Golden Feather Union Elementary
Goleta Union Elementary
Greenfield Union
Hanford Elementary
Hayward Unified
Hemet Unified
Hesperia Unified
Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union Elementary
Huntington Beach City Elementary
Huntington Beach Union High
Indian Hills Continuation High
Irvine Unified
Jacoby Creek Elementary
Jefferson Union High
Jurupa Unified
Kern County Office of Education
Kingsburg Joint Union High
La Mesa-Spring Valley
Lakeside Union Elementary
Lawndale Elementary
Lennox
Linden Unified
Lindsay Unified
Livermore Valley Joint Unified
Los Angeles Unified
Los Gatos Union Elementary
Magnolia Union Elementary
McKinleyville Union Elementary
Monterey Peninsula Unified
Moorpark Unified
Moreland
Moreno Valley Unified
Napa Valley Unified
Natomas Unified
New Haven Unified
Newport-Mesa Unified
Northern Humboldt Union High
Oak Valley Middle
Oceanside Unified
Ontario-Montclair
Orange Center
Orinda Union
Pacific Grove Unified
Pacific Union Elementary
Pajaro Valley Unified
Palm Springs Unified
Paso Robles Joint Unified
Penn Valley Union Elementary
Peres Preschool
Pierce Joint Unified
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified
Redlands Unified
Rincon Valley Union Elementary
Riverdale Joint Unified
Riverside Unified
Roseville Joint Union High
Rosedale Union Elementary
Roseland
Rowland Unified
San Bernardino City Unified
San Bernardino County Office of Education
San Diego Cooperative Charter
San Leandro Unified
San Lorenzo Unified
San Luis Obispo County Office of Education
San Mateo Union High
Santa Barbara County Office of Education
Santa Barbara Unified
Sierra Unified
Simi Valley Unified
Standard Elementary
Strathmore Union Elementary
Sweetwater Union High
Temecula Preparatory
Temecula Valley Unified
Thermalito Union Elementary
Tracy Joint Unified
Trinidad Union Elementary
Tulare City
Tulare Joint Union High
Twin Rivers Unified
Union Elementary
Vacaville Unified
Val Verde Unified
Valley Home Joint Elementary
Visalia Unified
Vista Unified
Westwood Unified
Whittier Union High
Woodland Joint Unified
Wright Elementary
Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified