Harrisburg, PA - The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) today announced that career and technical education (CTE) entities, including those in school districts and charter schools, can apply to create new programs to prepare students for careers in education. This program offering, authorized by PDE, aligns curriculum and standards for teacher training programs to federal guidelines and opens up new federal funding opportunities to schools that offer this career pathway.
“CTE plays a valuable role in our educational system and gives students the opportunity to explore potential career paths and connect with professionals in hundreds of critical industries,” said Acting Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin. “This combination of hands-on learning and rigorous academic courses—which for years has helped students confidently and successfully enter the workforce—can now be applied in new and innovative ways to create our Commonwealth’s future educators.”
The newly eligible CTE program is designed to engage and prepare secondary students interested in pursuing education careers. PDE’s Bureau of Career and Technical Education worked with the Department’s Committee on Education Talent Recruitment to develop the blended competency task list for the program.
Schools can apply now for program approval through MyPDESuite, and PDE will host a virtual meeting at 10:00 AM on March 17, 2023, to explain the approval process for the program. Registration is not required.
This initiative builds on the Department’s efforts to recruit and retain teachers in Pennsylvania. PDE’s educator workforce strategy works to ensure there is a robust pipeline of educators in place to provide a high-quality education to learners of all ages across the Commonwealth.
Last week, Governor Josh Shapiro announced his plan to increase funding for computer science and STEM education through PAsmart by 25% to support innovative education initiatives and practices for Pennsylvania learners. Additionally, in his 2023-24 budget proposal, Governor Shapiro announced a $2,500 annual personal tax credit for newly certified teachers for up to three years. This tax credit would help address Pennsylvania’s educator workforce shortage and put more teachers in the classroom.
Additionally, PDE recently announced that it had awarded $5 million in grants to support those efforts and increase the number and diversity of teachers and school leaders using funding from PAsmart and other sources:
- The Aspiring to Educate STEM-Computer Science (A2E STEM-CS) grant program uses PAsmart funds to make simultaneous progress to diversify the teacher workforce and increase the number, diversity, and cultural awareness of STEM-CS teachers.
- The Innovative Principal Prep 2 Practice grant program provides awards of up to $100,000 to approved educator-preparation programs so they can build innovative partnerships with LEAs that improve the “prep to practice” linkage in the preparation of school leaders.
- The Innovative Teacher Prep 2 Practice grant program provides funding to stimulate the creation of highly cohesive and innovative clinical experiences for teachers that make explicit connections across the three stages of clinical experience: as first-year candidates, during their capstone clinicals, and induction.
For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the website or follow PDE on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Pinterest.
MEDIA CONTACT: Casey Smith, casesmith@pa.gov
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