A winning — but underfunded — strategy for solving Pa.’s teaching crisis

An alarming number of children in Pennsylvania are not getting the education they need to thrive. There simply aren’t enough teachers — and the problem is getting worse.

Teachers are the single most important factor in a student’s education. Having a good teacher leads to higher test scores and improved lifelong outcomes like college attendance and workforce participation.

And yet, like most states nationwide, Pennsylvania is facing a critical teacher shortage. Nearly 10,000 Pennsylvania teachers, or roughly 7.7% of the workforce, left the profession between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, marking the highest attrition rate on record. In 2021, for the first time in the state’s history, Pennsylvania awarded more emergency certificates for teachers than initial certifications. These emergency permits are issued when schools can’t find enough certified teachers to fill their openings. This past year, at least 8,800 teaching roles in Pennsylvania were either vacant or temporarily filled.

While teacher shortages are felt in nearly every community in the commonwealth, they are particularly severe in critical areas such as special education and STEM. The teacher shortage disproportionately affects schools serving higher numbers of poor students, students of color, and English language learners, threatening educational quality and student success.

We are in a crisis. Pennsylvania needs thousands more highly trained educators before our students are left behind.

A bipartisan bill led by State Sen. Vincent Hughes and endorsed by Gov. Josh Shapiro and state lawmakers in both branches of the legislature laid out an ambitious plan to ameliorate the commonwealth’s devastating teaching shortage. By initiating the PA Student Teacher Support Program, Pennsylvania became one of only a few states to offer stipends to student teachers for their required and critically important 12 weeks of in-classroom training prior to certification.

This program offers student teachers up to $10,000 during their field experience if they commit to teaching in Pennsylvania for three years. And, if the student teacher completes their field experience in a school that is designated high-need, they can receive an additional $5,000 supplement. It’s a smart strategy that aims to attract and retain top talent in our classrooms.

And the program is popular. On the first day the application opened, more than 4,000 potential future teachers applied to receive funding — that’s 4,000 people who could, with more strategic and complete funding of the PA Student Teacher Support Program, help solve the state’s teacher shortage.

But the promise of the PA Student Teacher Support Program is currently throttled by its modest $10 million budget. While $10 million might seem like a lot, it can support just 750 student teachers — a drop in the ocean relative to our immense need. To fully support all eligible student teachers, the Pennsylvania State Education Association estimates that the program needs roughly $75 million.

This is a small price to pay to see that highly trained educators teach Pennsylvania’s children. A fully financially backed PA Student Teacher Support Program could be transformative in recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers, which in turn would help Pennsylvania schools maintain high educational standards and ensure positive student outcomes.

As deans of leading education schools in the commonwealth, we are proud to serve at universities that prepare the next generation of K-12 educators in Pennsylvania. We witness firsthand the difference financial support makes to those deciding whether or not to enter the teaching profession. Without sufficient support, how many potential educators will turn away, deterred by the economic burden of unpaid training?

And it’s not like there’s a pot of gold awaiting student teachers once they are fully certified: The average starting teacher salary in Pennsylvania for 2022-23 was $49,083, according to the National Education Association.

Expanding the PA Student Teacher Support Program means more than just financial relief for aspiring teachers. It means nurturing their professional growth during a crucial phase of their careers.

We owe it to our students and to future generations to provide the resources necessary for success. Let’s invest in our teachers so we can ensure the future of our students and the future of the commonwealth. We urge our state leaders to completely fund the PA Student Teacher Support Program.

The authors are the deans of the schools of education at Drexel University (Aroutis Foster), Pennsylvania State University (Kimberly A. Lawless), Temple University (Monika W. Shealey), the University of Pennsylvania (Katharine O. Strunk), and the University of Pittsburgh (Eboni Zamani-Gallaher).