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Pennsylvania State Senate
04/25/2024 05:05 PM
Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20230&cosponId=39726
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: February 7, 2023 10:54 AM
From: Senator Ryan P. Aument
To: All Senate members
Subject: Pennsylvania STEM Partnership Program
 
In the near future, I intend to introduce legislation that will create the Pennsylvania STEM Partnership Program within the Pennsylvania Department of Education.  This program will afford qualified STEM subject teachers the opportunity to teach at nonpublic schools to help address the rising cost of STEM education, address the growing shortage of qualified STEM teachers, and expand STEM curriculums to all students to prepare them for the future.

As stated, this program will be administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and will provide funding to compensate participating teachers for the instructional hours taught at nonpublic schools.   Under the program, participating nonpublic schools will form partnerships with eligible teachers and school districts.  Participating teachers will teach at nonpublic schools during hours following the completion of the teacher’s duties at their respective public school or at a time agreed to by the teacher and nonpublic school as part of the agreement.
 
Teachers will be compensated at the same wage at which they are paid by the school district by which they are employed.  The program is completely voluntary for teachers, school districts and nonpublic schools.

The need for high-quality and diversified STEM instruction for Pennsylvania’s young people is more vital than ever and that need will only continue to grow.  According to the Department of Education:
 
  • There will be 590,000 new and replacement jobs in Pennsylvania with STEM jobs growing at over 9 percent
  • 71 percent of new jobs will require computer science skills over the next 10 years
  • Currently there are more than 17,000 unfilled computer science and software development jobs in Pennsylvania with an average annual salary of $85,000
  • STEM graduates earn an average annual wage of $37,000 or more at entry level and an average of $65,000 or more annually over the course of their career
  • Research shows STEM instruction and majors offer benefits in a student’s postsecondary career, even if that student does not necessarily pursue a STEM career
     
It is clear that in order to compete in a world where science and innovation will drive our economy, Pennsylvania must provide opportunities for all of our students to succeed in a technology-driven global economy.  This program will help us meet this important educational objective.
 
A similar program was implemented in New Jersey in 2019 and, due to its success, was recently expanded to allow more teachers to work more hours for more money.  Now in its third year, the New Jersey program has resulted in more teachers pursuing STEM certifications to address teacher shortages at both public and nonpublic schools.  This is exactly the type of innovative educational opportunities Pennsylvania needs to provide to its students and teachers.
 
Please join me in cosponsoring this important legislation. 
 


Introduced as SB714