School administrators discuss teacher shortage in Pa., work to add new educators

Not too long ago, Hampton School District Superintendent Michael Loughead wasn’t concerned with the pool of teacher candidates when it came time to fill a position.

“We have a successful district, we pay our teachers well, and at one point we were lucky enough to have 1,000 people apply for a second-year teaching position,” Loughead said. “I guess we were lulled into a false sense of security.”

In the early 2000s, state education officials offered attractive retirement packages to make room for younger teachers to enter the workforce. But that trend has reversed over the past two decades as the pool of applicants for teaching jobs in school districts has shrunk.

“Someone with a degree in computer science can make more money working in the private sector than they could as a public school teacher,” said Bob Scherrer, director of the Allegheny Secondary School Department.

In the face of workforce change, school district leaders have worked to increase both communication and collaboration. Schools are sharing resources and concepts to increase engagement in public education.

Loughead and Scherrer were among more than a dozen panelists who attended the Western Pennsylvania Educational Leadership Forum, a conference of school administrators held last week at Westmoreland County Community College near Youngwood.

The Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center in New Stanton has a program called: Willing EducatorsIt aims to offer college-level education courses to high school students, helping them complete their postsecondary education more quickly and deepening the pool of available teachers. It is one of four such programs approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

“If students in this group are strategic about planning their classes, they could potentially leave high school as college sophomores,” said Beth Hutson, Mt. Pleasant Area School District Assistant Superintendent. “We want students to hear from CTC teachers, we want students to hear from physical education teachers — we want to expose them to the widest range of possibilities and experiences.”

Emily Brill, a teacher in the Keystone Oaks School District, is also the coordinator of Educators Rising, a program created by a national nonprofit of the same name that offers curriculum with a similar goal: getting students interested in education and, more importantly, giving them real experience in the classroom.

“I’ve talked to former students who spent four years trying to get an education degree and found out they didn’t make it through the teaching internship,” Brill said. “Maybe they were in the wrong field or the wrong subject, but you don’t want to discover four years later that teaching isn’t for you.”

Southmoreland Associate Principal Dan Clara said his district has partnered with the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg on a program that regularly connects interested students with education majors while earning potential college credits.

“It’s important for us to be ahead of them, because maybe that will lead to them wanting to substitute teach with us and stay in the district,” she said. “I was hoping to have eight kids, and this year we have 15. And because of the agreement we have with UPG, our students are not paying on those loans.”

Although the Aspiring Educators program is offered by Central Westmoreland, classes for the program take place in the Mt. Pleasant District, and students from Belle Vernon, Yough and Southmoreland are bused to school.

“We used to be very narrow-minded as school districts,” Clara said. “Now we say, ‘Hey, Franklin County has a great program, how can we get our kids involved?’”

Franklin District Manager Gennaro Piraino said he was on board with the idea despite some logistical hurdles, such as transportation and cost.

“We’re working on a health academy in FR, and once it’s developed, we can bring in students from other areas. Kiski County could develop a great program in a different area, or Burrell could. And if we all share students, we’ll work out the finances,” he said. “Because to tell a student, ‘You can’t pursue that career field because of your zip code,’ is (ridiculous).”

A path for adult learners

The second panel of the forum focused on creating a pathway for adult learners to achieve teacher certification and retaining current teachers.

At Westmoreland County Community College, 166 of the school’s 2,715 students participate in the early childhood education program, with 101 of them attending kindergarten through fourth grade.

“We have embraced flexible education and we also look at prior learning,” said Andrew Barnette, Dean of Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Public Service at WCCC.

At Point Park University, former Allegheny Intermediate Division principal and current associate professor Linda Hippert praised the school’s educator residency program, which makes it easier for paraeducators in the school district to acquire the skills and certifications needed to become teachers.

“It’s not easy to hire paraeducators either,” Hippert said. “So having someone who has the money to be interested in pursuing teaching certification is a real advantage. I think this model will produce excellent teachers.”

Alan Hack, associate director of the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, said three paraeducators from his district have joined Point Park’s program.

“They may handle some of that work during the day, but they also get experience working directly with Point Park faculty and students,” Hack said. “We also feel that our adjunct instructors often reflect our community more than our faculty. So creating a path for them to earn teaching certification in two years is a huge advantage.”

Other panelists also argued that the faculty needs to be diversified to better reflect the increasing diversity among students.

In Hampton, the district created a support group among teachers of color.

“I’m a white Gen Xer. What do I know about supporting teachers of color?” Loughead said. “My colleagues know, they’ve lived through it, and I think that’s a big part of retaining those teachers. Because, frankly, it can be tough for this group of educators in Southwestern Pennsylvania.”

Community colleges often reflect more diversity than the communities in which they are located, Barnette said.

“We had to look out for ourselves,” she said. “I have attended the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education for the past five years and have been able to bring some of what I have learned back to WCCC.”

One of the most important elements in both recruiting students and providing a pathway for adult learners is a leader who is passionate about making it happen, Brill said.

“You need a teacher who can push students forward and help them explore the field of education,” she said. “I teach child development, so it was a natural fit, but Gateway’s program started with a social studies teacher who was really driven to make it successful.”

Clara said the ideas discussed at the forum made her feel optimistic.

“I wouldn’t say all the kids who are taking the course now will become teachers,” he said. “But if we get a few who come back and apply because they know our system from experience, that would be a good return on investment.”