PENNSYLVANIA (WHTM) – The nonprofit, Teach Plus shows teacher shortages in the Midstate varies from moderate to severe.

“The crisis is pretty severe in all central PA counties and particularly in Dauphin County,” said Teach Plus Pennsylvania executive director Laura Boyce.

So how is this measured?

Boyce says they look at a few things including how many teachers are getting certified, teaching on emergency permits, and new teachers.

“Who tend to be less experienced, less effective, and sometimes leave the classroom at higher rates and then we’re actually looking at teacher attrition. So how many teachers are leaving? So, when you look across all of those different measures, Dauphin County is experiencing a more severe shortage along each of those measures,” said Boyce.

Susquehanna Township School District says right now they have 18 open positions.

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“We have had some positions that we were not able to fill for the start of the school year and so we used contract services to fill those positions. So, I mean, we’re we’re doing as much as we can with what we have,” said Susquehanna Township School District director of human resources Kathy Ciaciulli.

Ciaciulli says the growing challenge is that people aren’t going to school to be a teacher.

“Which makes it tough, because if you’re a veteran teacher and you work for a well-off school district and you’re getting paid, you know, a lot of money, you know, coming to Susquehanna Township might not be appealing to you,” said Ciaciulli.

To combat the shortage, Susquehanna Township School District

“Individuals already working in the district, working as paraprofessionals can get their associates degree, bachelor’s degree and even go on to get their master’s degree and so because we’re investing in those individuals, they’re giving back to the district and staying, you know, post program,” said Ciaciulli.

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