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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | May 23, 2023 11:57 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator James R. Brewster |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Addressing Pennsylvania's Teacher Shortage |
| Pennsylvania is facing a teacher shortage of devastating proportions. In the near future, I will introduce legislation to address Pennsylvania's teacher shortage that will increase the minimum teacher salary in Pennsylvania from $18,500 to $60,000 through a phased-in approach over five years. The last time the minimum salary for educators was increased was in 1989. It is well past time we elevate this critical profession to the level of respect it deserves. The education professionals helped by this minimum salary proposal are currently not earning enough to raise a small family and pay their average college debt of more than $55,000. Given the critical role teachers play in the lives of students, we must do a better job of incentivizing their employment. This proposal demonstrates respect for professional educators by providing them with a wage that is more in line with what comparably educated professionals earn. In 2021, the average starting salary in Pennsylvania was $46,232 a year. Since 2010, the number of teachers certified annually in the commonwealth has fallen from over 20,000 per year to fewer than 7,000 per year. In that same period, teacher prep program enrollment has declined nationally by one-third, while PA’s teacher prep program enrollment has declined by over two-thirds. As a result, we have witnessed a 200 percent increase in emergency permits and the lack of enough qualified, caring adults to keep our schools functioning. Adding to this challenge, schools have faced additional difficulty in retaining educators just as the need for new employees has increased to help this generation of school students navigate through pandemic related learning loss. Specifically, my bill will: • Increase the minimum salary in the Public School Code from $18,500 to $50,000 for the 2023-24 school year, with annual increases of $2,500 each school year thereafter until the minimum salary reaches $60,000 for the 2027-28 school year. • Reimburse public schools for the cost each year to ensure all employees are paid $60,000. The reimbursement would include the cost associated with salary, pension and Medicare expenses and be added to districts’ base allocation under the basic education funding formula. • Establish $20 per hour for education support professionals, including bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians, and paraprofessionals. • Ensure that educator-type employees (like social workers, psychologists, and therapists) who are employed in professional positions are legally recognized as “professional employees” and therefore are included in minimum salary requirements. • Not require collective bargaining agreements be reopened to reflect the new minimum salaries. |
Introduced as SB856