The shortage of educators and school staffers has reached a crisis level in some Pennsylvania public schools. The state will need to fill thousands of vacancies for teachers, principals and administrative staff by August of 2025 - according to a report from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Billy Hileman, president of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, said there s been a decline in enrollment for teacher education programs at universities in the past decade. .
By Olivia Sanchez for The Hechinger Report.Broadcast version by Terri Dee for Indiana News Service reporting for The Hechinger Report-Public News Service Collaboration People who read college applications are a lot like detectives. Without having been there for the event (the student s K-12 education and life), they must find clues in documents (high school transcripts and student essays) and eyewitness accounts (letters of recommendation) to solve the case (decide whether a student might be able to thrive at the college). But even with the extensive applications that each student submits, the detectives (college application readers) must do a lot of reading between the lines, said Tim Brunold, dean of admission at the University of Southern California. .
Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide report being short at least one teacher. The problem is worse at schools serving high-poverty neighborhoods where more than half report a vacancy. .
It s estimated that nearly half of all schools in the country don t have enough teachers. To help change that, the University of Texas in El Paso offers a residency program to help ensure that first-time teachers succeed. The "Miner Teacher Residency" gives students in the College of Education an opportunity to work in elementary and middle schools alongside working teachers. .
Cristian Strawn-Monarrez’s passion and dream is to be an educator to help open young minds and ensure today’s students are well rounded and respected members of society.