Before the pandemic began, education professionals in Pennsylvania were sounding the alarm about the beginnings of a teacher shortage.
That shortage is here, it’s ongoing and impacting Pennsylvania children, according to Chris Lilienthal, the assistant director of communications for the Pennsylvania State Education Association.
“We are seeing a significant decline over the last 10 years as the number of new teacher’s certificates that have been issued — there was a 66% decline,” Lilienthal said.
As of October, Pennsylvania school districts reported more than 2,000 vacancies, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. That same year, more than 1,800 teachers left their positions.
The shortage has a harsh effect on the students and a disproportionate effect on the students who only receive support in the classroom. According to Lilienthal, the shortage hurts students by increasing class sizes which can hurt student achievement.
“When you have a strong, vibrant school community that’s going to be good for the local economy,” Lilienthal said. “When you have a strong school, district students are going to be more likely after graduation to come back, set roots there, have, you know, start a family, buy a home.”
But why are fewer people entering the profession when the state has faced a deficit of teachers for years?
According to Lilienthal, there have been several factors going back to 2011 when significant cuts were made to school funding in Pennsylvania.
“This resulted in layoffs, it resulted in salary freezes, cutting of resources for school and education programs — they had a tremendous impact on our members,” Lilienthal said.
In the years since, teacher salaries have not kept pace with inflation, leaving students interested in pursuing education careers feeling uncertain about whether they can afford to be teachers.
“Not having a livable income really pushes people away — people that would be wonderful for this career,” said Alexandra Taffera, an elementary/special education major at Marywood University and incoming Student PSEA vice president. “They don’t want to have to deal with ‘How am I going to pay rent? How am I going to pay back my student loans?’”
The minimum teacher’s salary set by the Pennsylvania Public School Code is $18,500.
“There’s a push right now in PSEA to get the minimum wage to $60,000, and I know some schools have already followed suit,” Taffera said.
When Taffera graduates, she said that while she doesn’t know exactly where she’ll be yet, she’s certain she will stay in Pennsylvania to teach.
Another beacon of hope for young teachers was lit last year when Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into law Act 33 of 2023, establishing the $10 million Educator Pipeline Support Grant Program.
The program provides up to $15,000 to eligible student teachers in Pennsylvania and is administered through the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.
According to Lilienthal, this student-teacher stipend will help close the gap for those able to get it. Pennsylvania requires a 12-week supervised student teaching experience for teacher certification.
During those 12 weeks, student teachers work long hours that often leave them unable to work another job. For these teachers-in-progress, that stipend can mean the difference between whether they can afford to be teachers.
“It’s a highly challenging position for a college student to take all of the learning that they’ve gained in the college classroom and put that into practice teaching in their own classroom,” Lilienthal said. “They have to give up those part-time jobs and just really focus on the student teaching placement, so this program (the Educator Pipeline Support Program) is fantastic.”
But Lilienthal points out that the program falls short in one major way — its funding. According to PSEA, based on the number of applicants, the program would need $45 million to meet the demand for all the student teachers who apply. Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed $15 million for the program in his 2024-’25 budget.
“Everyone has had a teacher in their life that has made a big impact and with this shortage, we’re decreasing not only the quality of teachers but just the students are losing those opportunities to have people in their lives that support them,” Taffera said.
Two prospective teachers and a two-decade veteran of the education field were interviewed for this story. All three said they owed their passion for education in part to a teacher who inspired them.
“In her class I just really liked the way that she inspired her students to always like, to not just do what she assigned them to do but to do their work based on what they themselves wanted to talk about,” said Hannah Harvey, a secondary education English major.
When she graduates, Harvey said she hopes to inspire her students the same way she was inspired to pursue her interests. However, like many young prospective teachers, she encountered opposition when she shared her chosen profession.
She recalled her mother questioning whether being a teacher was right for her and telling her that being a teacher is “very hard right now.”
“COVID did a lot for the world of teaching. It changed a lot of things, and a lot of people are hesitant to get involved in the field now,” Harvey said.
Harvey also spoke to the student perspective on the student teacher stipend, a program she said will ease financial stress for the students able to access it.
“I pay for some of my school by being a resident assistant on campus, but when I’m student teaching I won’t be able to do that so I’m losing out on a lot of help from that,” Harvey said. “Almost $10,000, just in my personal situation so I can only imagine how difficult it would be for many other student teachers, especially when they’re not getting support from their family.”