On December 8, 2020, Karen Molchanow, Executive Director of the PA State Board of Education, sent a letter to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) that contained a copy of proposed regulation approved by the PA State Board of Education (PA Code Cite: 22 Pa. Code Chapter 49 —Certification of Professional Personnel, #006-346) for review by the IRRC pursuant to the Regulatory  Review Act. The regulation was also delivered to the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, which occurred on December 19, 2020. The letter goes on to say that, as the 2019-2020 legislative session has concluded, the PA State Board is holding delivery of proposed regulation #6-346 to the House and Senate Committees on Education until the start of the new legislative session.

The letter also contained a Regulatory Analysis Form which states that Pennsylvania faces challenges in educator recruitment and retention. Enrollment in traditional educator preparation programs has declined by 67% since 2010, which contributes to challenges to PA schools face in staffing classrooms with fully prepared educators. The decline in supply and resulting shortages disproportionately impact inequities in access to qualified teachers for low-income students and students of color. The eight districts that top the state’s list for teacher shortages based on unfilled vacancies are all Title I districts, and six of the eight districts with the greatest teacher shortages serve primarily students of color. Title I is a federal program that provides financial assistance to local education agencies and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families. To address these gaps, the state has become increasingly reliant on long-term substitutes serving on emergency permits to staff classrooms as evidenced by a 100% increase in the number of emergency permits issued to districts in Pennsylvania between 2014-15 and 2016-17. These circumstances are concerning because research demonstrates that teachers with little or no preparation often lead classrooms with lower student outcomes and experience a higher attrition rate from the field. Nationally, 66% of teacher turnover in 2015-16 was due to pre-retirement attrition.

These challenging circumstances demand attention to ensure that all students in Pennsylvania are served by teachers fully prepared to meet their needs. The proposed amendments collectively are intended to support efforts to improve educator recruitment, increase retention in the profession, increase the number of classrooms staffed by fully prepared teachers, and improve student outcomes by strengthening the preparation of new educators, creating conditions to provide more support for educators as they enter the classroom, and by improving the skill sets of current educators in working with an increasingly diverse student population. Increasing retention in the profession through staffing classrooms with more fully prepared educators can have positive financial and economic outcomes for the Commonwealth by reducing the amount of resources focused on recruitment and training due to staff turnover. Stalling classrooms with more fully prepared educators further can engender a positive financial and economic impact on the Commonwealth by improving student outcomes and, thus, creating a more well-prepared workforce.

The next steps in the regulatory process is the close of a public comment period on January 18, 2021, the final proposed regulations due by January 21, 2023, and the IRRC comments due by February 17, 2021. To read the proposed regulations in their entirety, click here.