HARRISBURG – Triblive is reporting… Out of Gov. Tom Wolf’s commitment to leaving the state’s education system in better shape than he found it comes a three-year strategy to recruit and retain more educators to work in Pennsylvania’s classrooms, according to Acting Education Secretary Eric Hagarty.
Hagarty said filling vacancies at schools is the most pressing problem they face these days. The 20-page The Foundation of Our Economy: Pennsylvania Educator Workforce Strategy 2022-2025 report introduced on Monday is filled with action steps to address this problem that is plaguing school districts all across the commonwealth.
“Over the last decade, we’ve seen a dramatic decrease in people entering the field of education,” Hagarty said at a Capitol news conference to roll out the report. “Ten years ago, roughly 20,000 new teachers were entering our classrooms each year but last year, there were only around 6,000 who did so.” Making matters worse, he said teachers are leaving the profession at an accelerated rate, making it harder than ever before in filling critical staff positions. According to the Public School Employees’ Retirement System, estimates show more than 40,700 teachers and other school employees retired between January 2018 and last month.
Hagerty said there are currently over 900 teacher vacancies in Philadelphia alone, and not filling those vacancies could lead to larger class sizes and fewer program offerings. “These shortages cause a vicious cycle that makes conditions for the educators who are there untenable. And that’s not even to mention the effects on students,” said Laura Boyce, executive director of Teach Plus Pennsylvania, a nonprofit group that has been sounding the alarm about the need for changes to recruit and retain educators.
To help combat the problem, a school code bill passed by the General Assembly and signed by Wolf imposes a three-year moratorium on requiring students pursuing careers in education to pass a basic skills assessment and creates pathways for out-of-state teachers to have reciprocity for their certifications to teach in Pennsylvania.
