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College graduates in Pennsylvania have the second highest average student loan debt in the nation, averaging $37,061 for members of the graduating class of 2018, according to the Project on Student Debt. Staggering levels of debt present a real barrier to attracting talented young graduates to the education profession.
PSEA is making it a priority to provide loan forgiveness for educators with student debt.
Only 4 percent of Pennsylvania’s educators are people of color, even though 29 percent of students are, according to Research for Action. It is one of the lowest rates in the country.
PSEA is making it a priority to find creative ways to attract people of color to the education profession. That includes building on initiatives like the grant program launched by Gov. Tom Wolf in 2018 to support innovative teacher and school leader preparation programs that expand, diversify, and strengthen the commonwealth’s educator workforce. In 2019, $2.1 million in grants were awarded to 11 universities through this initiative.
Teaching assistants are incredibly important members of the classroom team. Studies have found that employing additional teaching assistants is associated with higher student achievement in math and reading. PSEA is making it a priority to put more state funding into employing more teaching assistants in our schools and classrooms.
At a time when school safety and student wellness are major priorities, Pennsylvania schools need more school nurses, counselors, school psychologists, and social workers. School nurses improve student attendance by promoting good health, preventing disease, and managing student illnesses. School counselors help students navigate challenges at school and at home — and keep students safe.
Increasing the number of school counselors, including school psychologists and social workers, was a key recommendation offered by PSEA members in 2018 after the tragedy in Parkland, Florida, as well as in Gov. Wolf’s 2018 task force on school safety. PSEA is making it a priority to increase the ratios of school nurses and counselors to students.
Pennsylvania’s minimum teacher salary is $18,500 — and it hasn’t increased since 1989. The challenges educators face in the classroom, the time we’re required to spend keeping our skills up to date, and the diversity of our students have all increased dramatically in the past 30 years.
Educators play a crucial role in their students’ lives and shouldn’t have to scrape by to make ends meet. That’s why PSEA is again making it a priority to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum educator salary from $18,500 to $45,000 per year and provide state funding to struggling school districts to do so.
