Press Release: #PANeedsTeachers Applauds Gov. Shapiro’s Focus on the Teacher Shortage Crisis, Looks Forward to Working with Administration on Solutions

Earlier this Year, #PANeedsTeachers Released a Comprehensive Report to Inform Systemic Policy Change

Harrisburg, PA - Today, #PANeedsTeachers applauded Governor Josh Shapiro for acknowledging the teacher shortage crisis in his budget address and putting forward policy solutions to begin the conversation to rebuild our teacher pipeline. Earlier this year, #PANeedsTeachers released a comprehensive report on the root causes and potential solutions to Pennsylvania’s educator staffing challenges. The report, #PANeedsTeachers: Addressing Pennsylvania’s Teacher Shortage Crisis Through Systemic Solutions, summarizes the themes from the September summit and proposes specific policy strategies to systemically address teacher shortages and build a stronger and more diverse teacher pipeline. 

“We appreciate Governor Josh Shapiro’s acknowledgment of the teacher shortage crisis in today’s budget address,” said Amy Morton of the National Center on Education & the Economy, who co-authored the report. “The governor put forward policy solutions to address the crisis and we look forward to working with his administration as the budget is finalized over the next several months. 

“Bipartisan leaders in Harrisburg have taken notice of the crisis in our schools. We need to rebuild our teacher pipeline and make sure that we have well-prepared, effective teachers leading our classrooms. We have started discussions about how to ensure that we turn Pennsylvania's teaching profession into a desirable career path that draws and keeps a large number of diverse, committed, and well-supported professionals after sharing our report with members of the General Assembly and the Administration.”

About Teacher Shortage Crisis 

The scope of Pennsylvania’s educator staffing challenges is staggering: the supply of teachers has plummeted by two-thirds over the past decade, and a wide range of data points indicate that educator shortages and vacancies are at record-high levels, with low-income, urban, and rural schools impacted the most, and particularly acute shortages in certain subject areas and among teachers of color. 

Educator shortages force schools and districts to rely on unprepared teachers, creating a vicious cycle of underperformance and turnover. They also have other wide-ranging ripple effects across schools and communities, creating unsustainable conditions that harm student achievement and mental health, lower the morale and retention of remaining school staff, and hamper the ability of schools and districts to perform basic functions.