Having flown the PA38 for over 500 hours I have a high opinion of it as a training aircraft and consider it far a far better aircraft than the C152 for the task........... however you have to be able to fly to train !
About ten or so years back I got into the aircraft leasing business and the PA38 was my primary option but the wing fatigue life and the then dwindling parts supply made me go for the C152.
I have never looked back from that decision, the Cessna's are still flying long after I would have had to scrap the PA38 and there is a plentiful supply of parts, as far as I can see a PA38 is now only worth the time on the engine and the value of the bits you can part out when the aircraft reaches its spar fatigue life......... sad really because to fly it was a pleasure.