PA’s Teacher Shortage
Imminent & Deteriorating Teacher Shortage
Pennsylvania is facing an imminent and deteriorating teacher shortage that will have an array of unintended consequences and will severely impact its ability to harness growth in all state affairs. Students in PK-12 education will be negatively impacted by the inability to attract more teachers to the profession. Students of color will be disproportionately impacted by the teacher shortage in the state.
Since 2012, the number of Level 1 instructional certificates issued in Pennsylvania has dropped by 74% while the number of students graduating from Pennsylvania’s teacher preparation programs declined by 32%. Additionally, 6% of Pennsylvania teachers are people of Color, compared to 36% of students. This statistic makes Pennsylvania one of the largest teacher-student racial disparities in the country (Pennsylvania State Legislature Bill, 2021).
There are nearly 1,500 Pennsylvania schools and 184 entire school districts that employ zero teachers of Color (TOC) (Research for Action, Policy Brief). There are only 4% of Black teachers in the state of Pennsylvania compared to the Black PK-12 students that make up 14% of the student population. Additionally, there are only 1% Latinx teachers in Pennsylvania compared to the Hispanic/Latinx PK-12 students that make up 13% of the student population. Importantly, the latter demographic group is also the fastest growing in the state.
Contact
Contact:
Javier LopezDirector of Strategic Partnerships
229B Chambers Building , University Park, PA, 16802
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (814)865-1034