January 12, 2024 | Harrisburg, PA - Yesterday, the Basic Education Funding Commission concluded its work examining Pennsylvania’s school funding system and issued two reports recommending changes to our current public education system. The #PANeedsTeachers released the following statement in response:

“Anyone who has spent time in our classrooms or has children in Pennsylvania's schools understands that our teacher shortage crisis requires bold action. We are encouraged that the Basic Education Funding Commission recommended investing in our teacher workforce alongside any increases in state funding to schools and made specific recommendations that are aligned with #PANeedsTeachers' policy platform. 

While the commission was unable to reach consensus on many topics, there was bipartisan agreement on the need to strengthen the educator workforce. Both the majority and minority reports identify the connection between a strong teacher pipeline and improving student outcomes, and both specifically point to the enactment of stipends for student teachers in December 2023 as a positive step toward addressing the teacher shortage crisis. We are encouraged to see bipartisan support for this program, which was a top priority of #PANeedsTeachers in 2023, and hope to see it fully funded in the upcoming state budget.

As we look toward the 2024 legislative session, #PANeedsTeachers will be working to establish a teacher scholarship program that makes the cost of entering the teacher workforce more affordable. This aligns with the majority report’s recommendation to invest in ‘incentives for today's young people to enter the education workforce.’

At a time when bipartisan agreement is rare, we are encouraged to see that addressing Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage crisis remains a consensus issue. As we argued in written testimony before the BEFC, without intentional and targeted efforts to expand, strengthen, and diversify the educator workforce, attempts to reform Pennsylvania’s funding system will be hampered by the unavailability of qualified educators to staff underfunded districts as they receive unprecedented funding increases. But with strategic investments in the educator pipeline and workforce, Pennsylvania can realize the student achievement gains we hope for as our commonwealth moves toward a new approach to funding and supporting public schools.”

#PANeedsTeachers is a statewide coalition led by Teach Plus and the National Center on Education and the Economy focused on addressing Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage crisis. The organization has studied the teacher shortage crisis and offered policy solutions for lawmakers. Last year, the organization produced a report on Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage, #PANeedsTeachers: Addressing Pennsylvania’s Teacher Shortage Crisis Through Systemic Solutions. The report summarizes the underlying issues and root causes of the teacher shortage crisis and proposes a path forward, including policy principles and specific policy strategies to systemically address teacher shortages and build a stronger and more diverse teacher pipeline. 

About Teach Plus and NCEE

Teach Plus: The mission of Teach Plus is to empower excellent, experienced, and diverse teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that affect their students’ success. Since 2009, Teach Plus has developed thousands of teacher leaders across the country to exercise their leadership in shaping education policy and improving teaching and learning, to create an education system driven by access and excellence for all. For more information, www.teachplus.org  

NCEE: Since 1988, The National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) has been researching the world’s best-performing education systems to give states and districts the tools they need to become world class. NCEE has been a leader in U.S. education from policy to practice, producing reports that have led to landmark national legislation, supporting states in redesigning their education systems, and providing rigorous, proven support to more education leaders than any other organization. NCEE’s dedicated, diverse, and experienced staff are working with teachers, school leaders, district leadership teams, and state policymakers to create the highest-performing, most equitable systems of education in the world. For more information, visit www.ncee.org.