Mentoring young teachers in Kansas is supposed to come with additional compensation, up to $1,000.

The state runs a mentoring program where mentors are paid $1,000 for helping a first-year teacher, $500 for a second-year teacher and $250 for a third-year teacher. But Kansas regularly runs out of money for the program. And despite promises to pay, the state doesn’t pay teachers who put in the work. 

“There has been some burnout,” said Shane Carter, director of teacher licensure with the Kansas Department of Education. “Some teachers have been leaving the profession. And mentoring is one more thing that gets tacked on to their additional duties.”

The teacher mentoring program has to happen. Kansas teachers can’t hold a professional teaching license without completing it. New teachers must complete two years of mentoring, Carter said, while nontraditional teachers have to finish a third year. 

A nontraditional teacher is someone who doesn’t have a college degree in education, but is taking college courses and can begin teaching. 

The Kansas Department of Education is requesting a $1 million increase. That’s almost double the program’s previous funding of $1.3 million. The new funding for mentoring would also allow teachers to be paid $1,000 regardless of how experienced the mentee is.

State lawmakers are looking to cut back on the budget, with influential lawmakers telling every agency to find 7.5% in possible budget cuts. 

Carter said the additional money is needed because the mentoring program is stronger when fully funded. The teacher mentoring program was started around 2001 but it was tied to teacher licensing in 2008. The program wasn’t always funded. 

There was at least a half-decade gap when the state didn’t offer any stipends for this work. The funding was restored in 2017. In 2017, there were around 800 mentors in Kansas. In the last three years, the state has averaged around 1,850 mentors. 

A larger pool of mentors has multiple benefits, Carter said. Not everyone gets along, and it helps to have options if two teachers don’t have a positive relationship. But it also helps keep caseloads down. 

Mentors are supposed to have two teachers at a time. That doesn’t always happen, and some teachers are helping four. 

Teacher mentoring has no set schedule and can be intensive. Carter said there is no minimum hours requirement, and mentors are on call all the time. That could mean giving up your lunch break to sit in a classroom and watch an instruction. It could mean a late night call to help with a whole host of questions. 

Olathe Public Schools supports the increase. 

“We put a high value on our mentors who support our teachers at the building level,” said Erin Schulte, the assistant director of communications at Olathe schools. “They’re crucial to the success of new educators and their students. We strongly support increased funding from the state as our current stipend is greater than the state reimbursement.”

Emporia Public Schools says it’s run out of money to pay these mentors. That means using money meant for other professional development opportunities for a state-mandated program. 

“It limits what we can do for professional development and other needs,” said Lyndel Landgren, a spokesperson at Emporia Public Schools. “We also recognize the value our mentors provide and consider this as one of our priorities.”  

For Carter, he hopes this program is funded. Mentoring is an around-the-clock job that has to be done. He said the state wants to pay teachers for that work. 

“The bottom line is we end up exhausting our funds,” he said.