Pennsylvania has a shortage of teachers and the impact is particularly severe in Berks County. When the 2025-26 school year began, Berks had a shortage of nearly 300 teachers. This is a continuing trend. The number of teacher certificates issued in Berks County has dropped by 45% over the past decade and 7.5% of our teachers left their positions in 2023. Diversity is also a challenge as only 3% of the Berks County teachers are people of color, compared to about a third of our students.

Teach Plus Pennsylvania has launched the initiative PA Needs Teachers to address these challenges. In September, they released a series of reports outlining the policies needed to rebuild this vital pipeline.

Laura Boyce, the Executive Director of Teach Plus Pennsylvania will share these strategies. She will be joined by Mary Franciscus, Human Resources Director for the Berks County Intermediate Unit and Rebecca West Burns, Dean of the College of Education at Kutztown University, who will speak on the challenges and opportunities here in Berks County.