State System universities propose $56.5M in scholarships to ease Pa. teacher shortage

With Gov. Josh Shapiro a week out from submitting his first proposed Commonwealth budget, the State System of Higher Education has unveiled a plan to address Pennsylvania’s worsening teaching shortage that would use some of those funds.

The State System is asking to channel $56.5 million for direct financial aid to students studying education, enough to provide all 17,400 of them currently enrolled at its 10 universities with financial relief averaging $1,500 a year. For high-need students, officials are proposing up to an additional $5,000 in assistance.

That would mean price relief totaling up to $6,500 on campuses where the yearly in-state tuition is $7,716 not counting fees.

The infusion would represent half of the $112 million that the system is seeking in the Commonwealth’s 2023-24 budget to generate more graduates to fill jobs within six in-demand, high-growth fields.

Of that total, $99 million would be for direct financial aid.

In addition to the scholarships for education majors, State System leaders propose financial relief for students totaling $19 million in business; $10 million in social services; $7 million in nursing; $5 million in computer science; and $1.5 million in engineering.

The rest of the $112 million would be spent on program development needed to deliver high demand programs in those six fields.

The money would be separate from the State System’s proposed 2023-24 operating request of $573.5 million, an inflationary increase of $21 million. Officials have vowed to use that funding to freeze tuition across the 85,000-student system for a fifth consecutive year.

A spokesman for the Shapiro administration did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment. He is due to unveil his spending plan on March 7.

The scholarships could be a major help in making teacher preparation more affordable for a wider group students, said officials with the Pennsylvania State Education Association, whose 178,000 members include 7,000 future educators in teacher preparation programs.

“The cost of attaining a bachelor’s degree has been one of the greatest barriers for individuals seeking to enter and remain in the teaching profession,” said association spokesman Chris Lilienthal. “Forty-five percent of today’s educators took out student loans to finance their education with a total average loan amount of $55,580.”

Details of how the State System financial aid would be distributed were shared in advance of a state Senate Education Committee hearing Tuesday in Harrisburg called to discuss the state’s dwindling pipeline of teachers, impacts on more than 500 school districts and recommended solutions.

Panelists discussed a range of recommendations to better train and compensate and to more effectively recruit teachers. Many ideas, including stipends for student teachers, were contained in a 36-page report, titled #PANeedsTeachers: Addressing Pennsylvania’s Teacher Shortage Crisis Through Systemic Solutions.

It comes from the Teach Plus and the National Center on Education and the Economy, which are both nonprofit national groups.

In previous years, efforts in Pennsylvania to secure targeted state funding in the Commonwealth budget for public campus scholarships have failed.

Shapiro’s predecessor, Gov. Tom Wolf, proposed use of re-purposed dollars from the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development Trust Fund for a need-based program. He named it for Nelly Bly, an iconic Pennsylvanian and journalist of the late 1800s, herself driven from college by costs.

With near universal alarm over the erosion of those interested in teaching, State System leaders are emphasizing how their proposal could help. They point to a 67% drop since 2011 in newly certified teachers in this state. In fact, there were more emergency teaching permits than new teacher certifications in 2020-21.

“Making a degree more affordable would encourage additional people, especially those from rural and urban communities, to pursue a career educating students in Pennsylvania classrooms,” according to a State System summary of its proposal.

Officials with the State System, including Chancellor Daniel Greenstein, have pointed to the need to better target programs at its universities to high-demand industries. Pennsylvania is projected to need an additional 10,470 or 6% more educators by 2030.

“Having fewer new teachers available can leave public and private schools with fewer candidates to fill jobs,” the summary reads. “Teacher shortages also can cause larger class sizes and require other school staff to work in classrooms, leaving students without a regular teacher.”

After Tuesday’s Education Committee hearing, Majority Chair Sen. David Argall, R-Carbon, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties, characterized the issue as complex with various potential solutions. His statement did not address specifics of the State System proposal.

“I look forward to working with PASSHE to ensure they have the proper support during the 2023-24 state budget process,” it read in part.

“At today’s Senate Education (hearing) on teacher shortages, we heard how the cost of a bachelor’s degree is a major factor in the staffing crisis facing schools in every corner of this Commonwealth,” read a similar statement from Minority Chair Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-Allegheny County, “I’m open to learning more about and supporting any proposal that meaningfully invests in Pennsylvania’s children and our public education system … “.

The system campuses include PennWest (California, Clarion, Edinboro) Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock, Cheyney, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Millersville, Commonwealth University (Bloomsburg, Mansfield, Lock Haven) and Shippensburg and West Chester universities.