3/18/2023 0 Comments School bus driver shortage![]() “We say we’d like to create a pipeline from Pittsburgh to Slippery Rock,” said Dils. > Wolf administration unveils plan to recruit and retain educators in Pennsylvaniaĭils says they implemented several partnership programs with local school districts, such as Pittsburgh Public, Aliquippa and New Castle. Another of those programs allows members of the military and other individuals to transition from their current career into teaching. ![]() At Slippery Rock, I know we’re doing specific things that are having an impact, and I’m happy to see that.” So do we have a handle on it yet? We see there’s a shortage are we attempting to do across the commonwealth and things that need to be done? I think so. And so the latest policies have removed those that those exams for three years. And so the shortage started to happen then. And so a policy came down the pike that used an exam in a way that was artificial. We were told we were producing too many teachers back then. “The idea of pulling back on an exam that was used about eight or nine years ago. “I like what I hear from the governor’s office,” said Dils. “If you ask folks to do too much, they start to look at their options,” said Dils.ĭils believes we’re getting a handle on the teacher shortage, which really started about a decade ago. “We have to make the profession attractive again for people,” said Pennsylvania State Education Association’s Region Advocacy Coordinator Fritz Fekete. “Can’t continue to attack educators for doing their job, and they need to be compensated for doing that job.”įekete also wants to see the focus put back on the passion of teaching. That minimum salary was set back in 1989. Pennsylvania State Education Association’s Region Advocacy Coordinator Fritz Fekete says another step to take is to bump the minimum salary for teachers to $45,000. Currently, it’s at $18,500. “The pipeline is there,” said Dils. “It’s a matter of jumping into the corporate world and making more money and having working conditions that are easier on the stress and anxiety. And we’re working with them.”Īcross the country, colleges saw a 70% drop in students picking education as their major. Not at Slippery Rock. In fact, the university’s education department is experiencing an 11-year high in applicants. “Weekly, I get calls,” said Slippery Rock University College of Education’s Dean Keith Dils. “I have Zoom meetings set up with schools asking what can we do? We need to get your graduates. We have a situation here where we’re concerned. According to the acting secretary of education in Pennsylvania, Eric Hagarty, 10 years ago, roughly 20,000 new teachers were entering classrooms each year. Last year, there were only around 6,000. Retirements have also increased by about 50% over the last couple of years.Īt Slippery Rock University’s College of Education, Dean Keith Dils says he’s constantly getting calls from districts. In the last decade, there’s been a 66% drop in the number of new teacher certificates in the state. But nonetheless it was a job, and I took it seriously.”Įven more serious than the bus driver shortage is the teacher shortage. It’s being labeled a crisis. “Some of my colleagues had a little fun with it too. “The kids got a pretty big kick out of it,” said Elliott. Elliott got his CDL last year and drove kids to school in the morning. Then after teaching all day, he drove his football players to games. Stoner got his commercial driver’s license this year and will get out on the roads for the first time this school year. “I remember last year at one point, or might have been the year before, some kids (were) dismissed early so the drivers could come back and take the rest of the kids on their rides,” said Stoner. There are about 70 athletic teams spread over 150 square miles in the Butler Area School District. There may not be times when we could get our teams to the events,” explained Stoner. This is a real problem and as much as you may have heard about it, it became a reality as we headed back to school. He basically told all the coaches that we’re going to struggle to get kids to athletic events. “Last year, at our coaches meeting in the fall . I’m the assistant to the athletic director. “There’s no joke driving 50-60 kids in a bus,” said health and physical education teacher, Bill Elliott. “It’s a big responsibility.”
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