Teacher Shortage Signals Turbulent Time for Education

Contributed

Dr. Kyle LaPaglia, director of Gannon's School of Education, teaches students during class. Currently, there is a teaching shortage as fewer people are entering the field of education.

"Children ask questions that they're curious about, that they want to know about. Like, 'What is the sky?' and 'What is the earth?' and 'What are trees?' and 'What do bees do?' and things like that," explained comedian and actor Andy Griffith during a 1961 filming of I've Got a Secret, a classic game show.

To highlight the importance of educators during a teacher shortage, Griffith asked a panel of guests to explain everyday natural phenomena in a way children could understand. Although the panelists comically failed at explaining matters to the children present, the issue was no laughing matter. Griffith, who was a teacher before going into show business, made that point.

Historically, teacher shortages have signaled things like an older generation retiring or a surge in population. Now, the shortage marks something new — a change in attitude. In the past decade, the number of teacher certifications issued in Pennsylvania has declined by 66 percent, according to data from the state. "That's how we have measured it to see that over time, there has been a decrease in the number of new teachers coming into the teacher pipeline, and that is falling well short of the demand of our public schools," said Chris Lilienthal, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA). "The underlying problem really is that not enough young people are going into teaching."

In the Erie School District, there are currently four vacancies according to Natalie Fatica, director of human resources. Compared to other districts of similar size in the state, the circumstances are not dire, which she attributes to strategic partnerships with local universities. The lack of teachers is part of a bigger picture, though. "It used to be in education that people would talk about coming to the Erie School District and talk about how they had to substitute for a while before they could get an actual position, and it's not like that anymore," she said. However, she expects the shortage will worsen as the district is left to rely on things like emergency permits.

Currently, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) issues emergency permits to public schools that are unable to fill vacancies. "With your bachelor's degree in the state of Pennsylvania, you can get an emergency permit and teach, and obviously, they may have a math background, but they don't have a teaching background, so that makes it more difficult for the individual teaching and for the students," Fatica said. "Basically, the teacher is learning along with the students in those circumstances."

PDE data shows 6,323 teachers worked via emergency permits in the 2023-24 school year. For comparison, the number of new teacher certifications in 2022-23 — the latest data available — totaled 6,515. Attrition rates continue to climb to records, too, as 9,587 teachers left the field in 2022-23.

Just as there are many factors exacerbating the shortage, the solution must be multifaceted to address the myriad  challenges that have culminated.

Addressing pay

No matter where on the list it ranks, pay is an issue that educators say must be addressed to make the field a desirable proposition. Shortages are seen most in special education and STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math). As the cost of living rises and college continues to grow more expensive, those interested in STEM topics may find it more financially viable to enter the burgeoning and (much higher-paying) fields of artificial intelligence or cyber engineering instead of teaching.

Special education is another subject in need of teachers, and Fatica said the Erie School District works with Gannon University, which has an accelerated special education certification that teachers earn as they work within a special education classroom. Mercyhurst University has a similar program that enables educators to be full-time leaders in a special education classroom while earning their certification.

In other states like Tennessee, paid residency experiences have become popular. In these programs, school districts offer student teachers financial support in exchange for a commitment to teach in that district upon coursework completion. Mississippi, New Mexico, Florida, and Georgia have invested in teacher pay raises in recent years to entice teaching candidates in those states.

New to Pennsylvania this year is the student teacher stipend program. "Many college students work part-time as they're putting themselves through college. Those education majors, when they got to student teaching placement, had to give up those part-time jobs to give their placement their full attention, which is the right thing to do, but it created financial hardships for a lot of people," Lilienthal said, explaining that students teach a full course load as regular teachers would.

PSEA is also in favor of phasing in a new minimum salary of $60,000 by 2026. "We strongly believe we need to take a strong step like that to remain competitive with our neighboring states so that we can continue to have high-quality professionals in our classrooms," Lilienthal said. Erie Public Schools has revamped its salary schedule twice recently to ensure its entry-level pay remains competitive as they are losing teachers to county districts. "I think it has helped attract some people, but I don't think that it's going to completely solve the issue," Fatica said.

Lilienthal agreed, but said it's a good first step to manage turnover. "We have to make sure we are paying teachers competitive salaries so that we can attract the best and brightest to this field and that we can retain them over the long term because retention is also a problem," he said. The stipend to get students through student teaching not only helps with financial hardship but also helps students be prepared for the adversity they may face within a classroom.

Retaining teachers and recruiting more

A challenge with taking shortcuts to certification is that teachers may enter a classroom without proper preparation like teaching pedagogies, child development, and curriculum development coursework. "What's concerning about that is that you create a situation where a college graduate or somebody with only a few years of experience is coming into a classroom who may not be fully prepared for what it means to be a teacher," Lilienthal said.

Both Gannon and Mercyhurst give their students classroom experience within the first year and expose them to various classrooms and students so they can find their best fit. "They're out there early, and they're out there often," said Dr. Phillip Belfiore, chair of Mercyhurst's education department. Belfiore said that Mercyhurst has made a cognizant effort to teach its students about adversity at a time when some senior teachers in the system feel discouraged or burnt out. "How do I teach my teachers to be resilient in the face of some of those adversities and persist as a quality teacher? How do they find the best teachers to be partners with and not get consumed with the teachers' lounge where people sit around oftentimes and complain about why things aren't the way they should be? We recognize that," he said.

At Gannon, they also work with local districts to ensure their teachers are set up for success. Dr. Kyle LaPaglia, director of Gannon's School of Education, tells districts, "You have this student coming in, there are expectations, and one of them is to really show them what your job is but also talk positively about that." LaPaglia said that Gannon provides a realistic picture of education for its students, because as rewarding as the education profession is, it's not always positive. "We talk about … [seeing or hearing] things [at the start of a career] that are negative… What can we do to strategize so those students can be successful?" he said.

When a teacher has a negative outlook or is burnt out, it impacts the students, too. PSEA has incorporated webinars during the summer, when school isn't in session, to address the well-being and professional development of teachers. "It can be a very stressful job, and we cannot, as teachers, be in a position to help students if we are struggling with mental health challenges ourselves," Lilienthal commented. Belfiore said that teachers have to be in a good place themselves and feel supported to provide high-quality education. When a student feels cared for and engaged, they look forward to school, and education becomes something they feel empowered by.

"Teachers orchestrate a lot of that," he said, noting that when a teacher is negative, it not only hurts the student but reflects poorly on the profession, too. "A teacher with a negative attitude in a public classroom certainly turns those students off to the field of education."

Cultivating interest in the humanities is becoming more common thanks to apprenticeships and dual enrollment programs. Earlier this year, PSEA partnered with Educators Rising, a national network that provides in-school education programming for high schoolers, to launch a state chapter. It currently has 274 students enrolled across 29 participating schools. Students learn about curriculum development and teach mini-lessons, gaining up to nine college credits that count at participating universities and colleges. PSEA is looking to expand the program in the coming years to encourage wider interest in the teaching profession and attract students who traditionally wouldn't consider it.

Gannon likewise has a pipeline program targeting students in Erie Public Schools. The Archbishop Gannon Scholars Program provides full tuition for four years to students who meet the academic requirements for Gannon but cannot afford to attend. This is helpful for the teacher shortage, which is documented more in low-income and urban areas than in suburban areas. It's those students that Gannon focuses on placing back into the public schools so the teachers have a similar background and understanding of their students and know how the school operates.

Public perception problems

The one thing that has changed this time seems to be something without a simple solution — attitude. In creating a rewarding profession, officials must consider the mounting pressure outside the classroom.

Belfiore said the politics of public education have become a challenge, and the PDK Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools this year showed that 60 percent of respondents would not want a child of theirs to take up teaching in public schools. "I know there's also the politics of public education. What you can and cannot say, what you can read and cannot read, and that plays a part, I think, in how parents view teaching and the teaching profession as it's displayed on TV and in the media," Belfiore said.

In the PDK poll, parents cited inadequate pay and benefits, lack of student discipline, the thanklessness of the job, and concerns of school safety as their primary concerns. As there are more stories of book banning and conversations regarding gender within academic settings, the image people have of teachers has become blurred. Historically, a public classroom was four walls with a chalkboard.

Now, the landscape has changed. During the pandemic, a crisis narrative ensued around education. Still, headlines in the media focus on things like how standardized test scores have increased but still have not returned to pre-COVID numbers. It does not take into account the fact that American students are performing better than students in other countries, according to data from the Program for International Student Assessment. It does, however, insinuate that teachers are somehow failing the students, and therefore reflect poorly on the public education system, when it's a fluid atmosphere gauged using rigid testing.

Through all the numbers and political conversations, Lilienthal said it's the core values of teachers that seem to get lost in the mix. "I think one of the things that's been very demoralizing for some teachers has been a national sort of movement that has devalued public education and devalued the role of teachers in our students' lives," he said. "They come into the school every day just focused on getting that student to a better place. That's what it's all about for them. There is no political motive. There is no cultural motive. It is all about helping that student become the best person they can be, and I think we, as a society, really need to put that focus back on what it means to be a teacher."

Chloe Forbes can be reached at chloeforbes14@gmail.com