Amid preschool teacher shortages, Philly will give $3M in retention bonuses

The city of Philadelphia is setting aside $3 million to help preschools retain teaching staff for the school year ahead.

As the region grapples with a shortage of preschool teachers, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker recently announced a new program that will provide bonuses of $1,500 for assistant teachers and $2,000 for lead teachers who stay at their jobs for the forthcoming school year.

The city will also provide summer training for teachers and coaches, who will get a stipend for participating. The training will cover how to support children facing trauma and mental and behavioral challenges.

The bonuses will be available to publicly funded pre-K lead and assistant teachers. Philadelphia has 370 public preschool locations, including elementary schools and licensed childcare centers.

At least 1,700 teachers are expected to get the bonuses, a city spokesperson said.

» READ MORE: Childcare staff often make less money than retail workers. That’s causing staff shortages and long waitlists at daycares

Childcare workers and preschool teachers are in high demand and short supply in the Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania. A major contributor to the problem is the low pay for these positions — the average wage for early childhood teachers in Pennsylvania is less than $13 per hour, according to a 2023 report by Children First and Start Strong PA.

The staff shortages have made it difficult for parents to get their children into early childhood programs, let alone affordable ones. With costs for parents already so high, directors of preschools and day-care centers don’t want to price families out of their programs by raising their fees. They are held to strict teacher-to-student ratios, so they can’t simply enroll more students to increase revenue.

The solution, local advocates have said, is for government to subsidize these businesses. In the near term, they’ve added, the priority is to directly increase pay for workers via government-funded bonuses, like the ones Parker just announced.

“As mayor and a working mother, I know very well that improving and investing in pre-K education is critical to ensuring our children have high-quality support so that they are prepared for kindergarten, elementary school, and beyond,” Parker said Saturday at the Citywide Play Date, where she announced the bonus program.

Also on Saturday, Parker announced that Philadelphia is launching an application portal for public preschool programs. It will include all 370 locations in the city, and will go live in June. The intent of the portal is to make it easier for parents to enroll their children in free pre-K programs.