Central Pa. facing severe teacher shortage as school starts

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• Certified teacher production in Pa. has dropped 75% in the past decade

• Over 70% of Pa. schools say staffing shortages are a top concern

• #PANeedsTeachers urges funding for student teacher stipends

Central Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage has reached crisis levels, with many counties rated extremely severe as the new school year begins across the commonwealth.

Earlier this year, #PANeedsTeachers released county fact sheets measuring the severity of the teacher shortage crisis in Pennsylvania. The reports measure the overall Severity of Shortage, Teacher Supply, Teacher Qualifications, Teacher Diversity, and Teacher Attrition in each county. The teacher shortage severity score ranges from Extremely Severe, Severe, Moderate, and Mild.

The teacher shortage in several Pennsylvania counties is rated Extremely Severe. In Central Pennsylvania, the shortage is rated very high in Dauphin County, high in Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, Lebanon, and Perry counties, moderate in Lancaster and York counties, Overall, Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage remains at crisis levels as students begin a new school year.

“In the next few weeks, thousands of students will be walking into schools and classrooms without enough well-qualified teachers,” Laura Boyce, Pennsylvania Executive Director of Teach Plus and a leader with #PANeedsTeachers, said in a statement. “We need to keep working to rebuild the teacher pipeline by fully funding the student teacher stipend program.

“It is already helping to get more aspiring teachers ready for their careers and into the classroom. We need to make sure that every student teacher can get the stipend. Pennsylvania cannot afford another year of students starting school without enough well-qualified teachers to lead their classrooms,” added Boyce.

According to a release, research shows that a highly qualified, adequately staffed, and diverse teacher workforce is essential for any thriving educational system, workforce, and economy.

The number of certified teachers produced by Pennsylvania’s education programs has fallen by 75% over the past decade, and teacher turnover is at an all-time high. Pennsylvania now issues more emergency certificates, granted to underprepared teachers when schools cannot find qualified teachers, than regular teaching certificates to fully qualified teachers.

• Teacher attrition rates are at an all-time high of 7.7% – while rates for teachers of color are even higher.
• Over 70% of schools surveyed report that staffing shortages are a top concern.
• 45.8% of rural schools struggle to fill teacher vacancies, according to a 2023 analysis by Dr. Richard Ingersoll and Henry Tran.

#PANeedsTeachers, a statewide coalition led by Teach Plus and the National Center on Education and the Economy, has helped lead efforts to alleviate the teacher shortage crisis.