Harrisburg, PA - The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) today highlighted how Governor Shapiro’s inaugural budget would support student success and address Pennsylvania’s education workforce shortage. Governor Shapiro’s budget includes increases to public education funding with targeted support for students both inside and outside of the classroom and initiatives to bolster the teacher pipeline, including an annual personal income tax incentive for newly certified educators of up to $2,500 for 3 years.
“Educators play a pivotal role in our Commonwealth, and over the past few years we have struggled with both recruitment and retention in the field of education,” said Acting Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin. “Supporting prospective teachers through commonsense proposals like this personal income tax credit will help us address the educator workforce shortage.”
In recent years, the number of new educators entering the workforce has decreased. A decade ago, roughly 20,000 teacher certifications were issued each year, while in 2021 only about 6,000 were issued. Not only has the rate of new teachers entering the workforce decreased, but the rate of educators leaving the profession continues to accelerate. This means that schools are having a harder time than ever filling critical staff positions.
Building strong, safe communities starts with an adequate and equitable public education system. Supporting teachers is a key element in working toward a comprehensive solution to improving education in Pennsylvania, and Governor Shapiro’s 2023-24 budget would provide newly certified teachers with an annual personal income tax incentive for up to three years.
Recruiting and retaining teachers in Pennsylvania has been one of the Department’s top priorities, beginning with PDE’s educator workforce strategy released last year. Earlier this week, PDE made $1.5 million in grants available to allow institutions of higher education expedite the process of training special education teachers in Pennsylvania. Governor Shapiro’s personal income tax incentive program would build on these efforts, working 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.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Casey Smith, casesmith@pa.gov -
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