PITTSBURGH — David Taylor has been in the classroom for 30 years. He was a high school math teacher and more recently, a middle school math teacher in South Fayette Township. He’s also the President of the Western Office of the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA). He says in all his experience, he’s never seen anything like the teacher shortage affecting our local schools.
“We’re not almost at a crisis, we’re actually knee-deep in the crisis,” Taylor tells Channel 11. “We’re already worried. I think the general characterization that we have not been hit hard yet is not what we’re seeing in the classroom.”
New teacher certifications have plummeted, and a gutted retirement system and no minimum salary provides no incentive. Student teachers don’t get paid and students who want to become teachers are taking on massive loads of debt.
We talked to teachers across several districts. Classes are being combined, sometimes without additional materials or desks, leaving students to sit on the floor without necessary instructional materials. Substitutes aren’t easy to come by.
“We’re distributing kids among one teacher’s classroom to nine other teachers,” Taylor says. “We’re putting multiple classes in an auditorium for coverage with one sub because we don’t have three.”
Teachers are burned out, many, including new teachers, are throwing in the towel and the pipeline is nearly empty.
“We’re in the middle of a 73% decline in new teacher certifications being issued to students and that is completely unsustainable,” Taylor adds.
A decade ago, 16,000 new teaching certificates were earned in PA. From 2021-2022, only 4,200 new teaching certificates were awarded - a 73-percent drop.
Taylor says to find and retain teachers we need a fair starting salary.
“There is a minimum salary, but most people don’t realize it’s $ 28,000 a year,” Taylor says. “We have professionals in the state that make the minimum and below. That sounds like poverty level to most of us.”
He argues student teachers need to be paid.
“Zero dollars and you’re working every day,” Taylor added. “It’s a barrier.”
Nina Esposito-Visgitis is the President of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, which represents teachers in Pittsburgh Public Schools.
“I’m really worried about what’s to hit Pittsburgh,” Esposito-Visgitis tells Channel 11. “It pains me greatly because we’re losing so many teachers.”
She says teachers need support in the classroom and in the community to make teaching the noble profession it once was.
“Students are smart,” Esposito-Visgitis added. “They see it. They’re in the classroom. They see disgruntled teachers, they see burned out teachers, overworked teachers, so why would you go into a profession where you’re making less for doing more work?”
Esposito-Visgitis says substitutes, paraprofessionals and special education positions are nearly impossible to fill.
“I think it will have to get very, very bad for someone to actually do something,” she adds.
Then there’s the issue of safety. Esposito-Visgitis says teachers will fiercely protect their students no matter what.
“You shouldn’t be afraid to go to work, nobody should,” Esposito-Visgitis says. “Particularly students shouldn’t be afraid to go to school. The things you have to worry about now are just scary to me. The gun violence, the gun violence in the schools. There are things teachers have to worry about.”
Taylor and Esposito-Visgitis say if something isn’t done to address this shortage now, they fear it will be too late.
“If those things don’t change, I fear we’re not going to come out of this teacher shortage,” Taylor adds.
“We have to come up with a comprehensive way to attract people to make it what it is, a fantastic profession that changes lives every day,” Esposito-Visgitis says.
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