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Pennsylvania is facing a serious teacher shortage, with fewer new educators entering the profession and many leaving within just a few years—especially in schools serving students of color. Aspiring teachers from historically underrepresented communities face significant barriers, from financial challenges to lack of support, making it even harder to build and sustain a diverse educator workforce.
The Pennsylvania Educator Diversity Consortium (PEDC) is transforming education by advancing equity-driven policies that not only attract new teachers but also help them stay and thrive. Through our Policy & Advocacy Working Group, we bring together educators, students, and advocates to shape bold solutions that reimagine what’s possible for Pennsylvania’s schools.
PEDC's priorities are grounded in research, lived experiences, and the urgent need to build an education system that serves all students equitably. To create meaningful, lasting change, PEDC is leading efforts to:
By prioritizing the data collection and transparency around educator diversity we can develop and inform effective policies.
We must ensure systems are supportive and sustainable for educators, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds.
It is crucial to create more opportunities for youth, paraprofessionals, and community members to enter the teaching profession.
PEDC is working to reduce the cost of becoming an educator, with the long-term goal of making teacher preparation free in Pennsylvania.
We can expand opportunity by reducing red tape in the educator preparation and certification process.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education needs to be able to support a stable, diverse, and well-prepared educator workforce.
Developed by our Policy & Advocacy Working Group, current Policy & Advocacy Goals reflect both statewide policy opportunities to advance recruitment and retention of teachers of color, as well as the lived realities of our members.
In 2023, we helped eliminate the basic skills testing requirement—a major barrier keeping aspiring educators, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, out of the classroom. This win opens doors for a more diverse and talented teacher pipeline across Pennsylvania.
In 2023, Pennsylvania enacted Act 35 - legislation to improve the collection of critical data on teacher vacancies and workforce diversity. This advancement enables the state to better identify staffing shortages and develop targeted strategies to address them, marking a significant step toward building a more robust and diverse educator workforce.
We secured legislative language in 2023 that, for the first time ever, allows non-citizens to become certified teachers in Pennsylvania—an important step toward building a more inclusive, diverse educator workforce.
As a result of our joint advocacy efforts with like-minded organizations, the General Assembly and Governor Shapiro established the Student Teacher Stipend Program under Act 33 in 2023 to support Pennsylvanians training to become certified, committed educators.
The program launched with an initial $10 million investment and quickly proved to be both popular and essential—demand far outpaced available funding, leaving many student teachers without the support they need.
In 2024, our continued advocacy helped secure an additional $20 million, which will provide stipends to over 2,000 future teachers across the state. We are now calling for full funding of $50–55 million to ensure every eligible aspiring educator can access the support they deserve.
Our policy and advocacy work is ongoing, collaborative, and essential. Through year-round engagement, we amplify voices, build coalitions, and drive action that moves us toward a just and inclusive future.
