PHILADELPHIA —Just 20 minutes after applications opened for Pennsylvania's new program offering stipends to student teachers, Hannah Buckley logged on and submitted hers. But she isn't sure whether that was fast enough.

Within two hours last month, officials say more than 3,500 people applied for the new program, which provides student teachers $10,000 stipends. The program offers an additional $5,000 for placements in schools that attract few student teachers or have high vacancy rates.

But there's only enough funding for 600 to 700 people, said Bethany Coleman, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. As of Monday, more than 3,900 people had applied for the awards, which will be given out first come, first served, Coleman said.

Advocates say Pennsylvania should expand funding for the program to meet the demand — and to combat a shrinking supply of new teachers. On Tuesday, they'll be lobbying lawmakers to increase funding for the stipend program from $10 million to $75 million, and to add $10 million for school "grow-your-own" programs that train high schoolers to become teachers.

Without a stipend, Buckley, 21, an aspiring educator who graduated Monday from Shippensburg University, will "100% have to dip into savings" when she begins 16 weeks of student teaching this fall — fulfilling a requirement to become a teacher in Pennsylvania. "It's a full-time job with no pay," she said.

That's a barrier to entry that advocates say shouldn't exist at a time when Pennsylvania is battling a shortage of qualified teachers.

"We are still in the midst of a pretty dire crisis," said Laura Boyce, Pennsylvania executive director of Teach Plus, a nonprofit that recently released an analysis finding Pennsylvania needs at least 15,000 more teachers to fill vacant positions and replace those who are leaving the profession or don't have proper certifications. That's more than double the number of new teachers being certified in the state each year.

To help create that pool of new educators, Pennsylvania needs to make "really dedicated investments in the teacher pipeline," including fully meeting demand for the stipend program, said Boyce, who will be among those lobbying for an increase Tuesday.

Leaders of Pennsylvania's colleges of education have thrown their support behind the lobbying efforts.

Student teachers "should be remunerated for their work, as a matter of fairness and as a signal that we respect and value their contributions," said Katharine Strunk, dean of the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education and an expert on teacher labor markets, who noted the "backdrop of Pennsylvania's crippling teacher shortages."

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