Earn Classroom Experience
Future teachers get a paid apprenticeship option in California
Under AB 1904, educator candidates could earn classroom experience while being paid, instead of relying only on unpaid student teaching. The program would sit under joint rules from the state’s credentialing and apprenticeship agencies.
California’s teacher pipeline could open a new paid route. The proposal would let approved apprenticeship programs count toward credentialing as long as they meet state training and supervision standards.
- AB 1904 would create a formal apprenticeship route into teaching in California.
- Teacher candidates could earn paid on-the-job training before becoming the educator of record.
- State credentialing and apprenticeship agencies would share approval and monitoring duties.
- Approved programs would need 300 hours of paid training, 200 hours of support each year and a bachelor’s degree.
- In California, future teachers could move into the profession through a more structured paid apprenticeship instead of relying only on the traditional preparation track
California future teachers could earn pay and classroom experience at the same time under a bill that would let approved apprenticeship programs count toward teacher credentials, as long as they meet state training and supervision standards.
The bill would also let the Commission on Teacher Credentialing issue apprenticeship certificates or permits to educator candidates who do not yet have a credential, as long as they are employed by a local educational agency, or LEA, and enrolled in an approved program.
The agencies that would referee it
The Commission on Teacher Credentialing and the Division of Apprenticeship Standards would have to work together on spreading the word, approving programs and monitoring how they operate. They would also have to explain the apprenticeship requirements to professional preparation programs, LEAs and potential sponsors.
That matters because California already says apprenticeship is a preferred form of on-the-job training when it is cost effective for public services, and state and local agencies are supposed to make a diligent effort to establish apprenticeship programs for jobs that can use them. AB 1904 would bring teaching more directly into that framework.
The training floor
The bill sets basic guardrails for anyone coming through the new path. An approved program would need at least 300 hours of paid on-the-job training before an apprentice could serve as an educator of record, plus at least 200 hours of support, mentoring and supervision each school year.
It would also require an apprentice to earn a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution before taking on that role. The commission and the apprenticeship division could enter into a memorandum of understanding for information sharing, application review, data collection and reporting, and the chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards could help write rules for approval, denial, registration, working conditions and minimum standards.