Joe D'Orsie: The state government is the reason for Pennsylvania's teacher shortage
If you've seen statewide headlines or asked the state teacher's union lately, you'll get the same explanation for the purported teacher shortage in...
If you've seen statewide headlines or asked the state teacher's union lately, you'll get the same explanation for the purported teacher shortage in Pennsylvania: the state is dangerously short of educators because of a lack of pay, deficient teacher/student ratios, and the insurmountable cost of higher education. From the standpoint of advocates — for instance, the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), the largest and most powerful lobby in Harrisburg – this explanation makes sense. But do the data support this narrative? Poring over data from the National Center of Educational Statistics (NCES), the Census Bureau, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), and the National Education Association (NEA), I tried to find an answer.