In the near future, I intend to introduce legislation that will finally provide funding to a critical teacher recruitment initiative, helping diversify our educator workforce and relieve school district’s suffering from teacher shortages.

While the Commonwealth has made a meaningful effort over the past several years to correct our teacher shortage, it is clear in the data that there is still much left to do. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Educator Workforce Report, at the start of the 2024-25 school year approximately half of all school buildings in the state reported at least one teacher vacancy, totaling 3,300 vacancies statewide. Shortages in traditionally certified teachers have forced school districts to fill positions with emergency permitted personnel at an ever-increasing rate. Emergency permits issued in Pennsylvania rose from 9,269 in 2013-14 to 28,378 in 2023-24, more than tripling over a 10-year period.

Further complicating the issue is the persistent trend of decreasing enrollment into higher education. To that end, it’s critical we do everything possible to encourage recruitment into the teaching profession and to ensure that students currently enrolled in educational preparation programs receive all the support they need to finish their education and receive their Pennsylvania certification. 

This proposal calls for directing a portion of the certification fees that a prospective educator pays when they apply for certification to the Talent Recruitment Account – a program originally implemented in the FY 2022-23 budget. The Talent Recruitment Account was established to provide grants to colleges to fund targeted support to students pursuing initial teacher certification as well as other initiatives designed to increase the educator workforce. To date, the Talent Recruitment Account has remained unfunded.

It will take an all-of-the-above strategy to solve Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage problem. I ask that you please consider joining me in this important legislation to expand and diversify our educator workforce and finally fund the Talent Recruitment Account.