March 15, 2023 - Philadelphia, PA
Governor Josh Shapiro today shared his vision for rebuilding Pennsylvania's teacher workforce during a visit to the George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science in Philadelphia, highlighting his Administration's plan to encourage new teachers to join the profession and ease the burden on existing teachers.Last week, the Governor unveiled his budget -- a set of commonsense solutions to the most pressing issues facing Pennsylvania communities -- and among the most challenging is a major shortage in educators across the Commonwealth. In Philadelphia alone, there were more than 200 unfilled teaching jobs at the start of the 2022-23 school year."Creating real opportunity for our children starts in our classrooms, but that can only happen when we have enough well-qualified, well-paid teachers in our classrooms. Right now, the Commonwealth simply doesn't have enough teachers, and my Administration is taking steps to fix that," said Governor Shapiro. "My budget will help put more qualified teachers into our classrooms by creating a new tax credit to make it a little bit easier to become a teacher. This is common sense, and we must help any Pennsylvanian who wants to serve their community by becoming a teacher."List of Speakers:Darryl Johnson Jr., Ed.D, G.W. Carver High School PrincipalDr. Tony Watlington, Superintendent, School District of PhiladelphiaReginald L. Streater, Esq., Philadelphia School District Board PresidentRepresentative Donna BullockSenator Sharif StreetSenator Vince Hughes Mr. Wagenhoffer, Teacher at G.W. Carver High SchoolGovernor Josh Shapiro