May 30, 2025 Westmoreland County Child Care Roundtable Discusses Impact of Child Care Teacher Shortage on Employers Business, nonprofit, and community leaders gathered Thursday at the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce to address a child care teacher shortage that is affecting both the economy and families across the state and called for state investments in teacher recruitment and retention efforts. Calls for Recruitment and Retention Funding Trying Together joined the chamber of commerce, local advocates, and representatives from state Sen. Kim Ward’s (R-39th District) office to highlight the results of new state and local surveys that reveal how the teacher shortage – driven by unlivable wages – is forcing child care classrooms to close and leaving working families scrambling to find care. “Today, we are talking about the child care staffing crisis, a challenge that has reached critical levels and is affecting employers, workers, and families alike,” said Dan DeBone, president and CEO of the chamber of commerce. The Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce has joined more than 70 state chambers of commerce and economic development organizations to urge the General Assembly to work across the aisle to allocate funding for child care teacher recruitment and retention. Emily Neff, Trying Together’s director of public policy, said that 83% of the 29 Westmoreland County providers that participated in a September 2024 survey conducted by the Start Strong PA Campaign reported staffing shortages, while 86% reported challenges in recruiting teachers. “Those programs have 69 unfilled teaching positions, and if those positions were filled, they could serve an additional 747 children in Westmoreland County,” Neff said. One employer shared that she is trying to help a staff member who is a new mother find child care so she can return to work and fears she might lose the staffer due to the challenges in finding child care. Another employer said that child care is a barrier to effectively covering shift work and has had to change the schedule to meet the needs of employees who cannot find child care. Of the 1,140 child care providers who took the survey statewide, 92% reported recruitment challenges and 85% said they were struggling with teacher shortages that are leaving more than 3,000 positions unfilled statewide. A total of 25,320 additional children could be served if those positions were filled. Teacher Shortage Driven by Low Wages Eva Wood, executive director of Ligonier Valley Learning Center, said that low wages is the primary reason why it is challenging to retain and recruit new teachers. “The wages for child care teachers are so low that they fail to meet the cost of living in every single county in Pennsylvania,” Wood said. “They are doing some of the most important work in our society – nurturing the next generation. But the reality is that many teachers can find other jobs that require far less specialized skills and pay more an hour, often with benefits. Our Ligonier location had to close the infant and toddler child care program and the Latrobe location just lost six teachers who are moving on to higher paying jobs, some outside of the field.” The event also spotlighted the “A Day in the Life” project, a partnership between Trying Together, Start Strong PA, and Pre-K for PA. The project shares photos and stories to help the public and lawmakers gain a deeper understanding of the realities facing children, families, and early childhood educators in Pennsylvania. Speakers during the press conference also highlighted a March poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research that found that 98% of voters agreed that early childhood education plays an important role in what it takes to lead a healthy and productive life. The poll also found that 83% of respondents supported increasing state funding for child care teacher recruitment and retention. “New polling data from a March 2025 statewide poll showed overwhelming Pennsylvania voter support for early childhood care and education programs and increased state funding to strengthen and grow these services,” said Hailee B. Roye, Trying Together’s policy and practice manager. Looking to Take Action? Sign the petition to tell the PA General Assembly to prioritize child care in the final 2025-2026 PA budget!
July 12, 2024 Pre-K for PA, Start Strong PA Respond to 2024-25 State Budget Pre-K for PA and Start Strong PA have issued statements that the state budget fails to address the crisis in the early childhood sector. The two advocacy campaigns – which are part of Early Learning Pennsylvania (ELPA), a statewide coalition of advocates focused on supporting young Pennsylvanians from birth to age five – have released reaction statements to Senate Bill 1001, which has been signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro and will be enacted in the 2024-25 Pennsylvania state budget. Below are statements from the advocacy campaigns and a breakdown of budget investments. Child Care $26.2 million in additional funding to maintain the status quo of payments in the subsidized child care system and the number of children. Additional federal child care funding to meet the federally recommended child care subsidy reimbursement rate. In a press release, Start Strong PA said, “With a child care sector that is collapsing with classrooms and programs closing across the commonwealth due to the historic child care teacher shortage, the Start Strong PA Campaign is deeply disappointed by the lack of direct investment to help child care providers recruit and retain their workforce as part of the state budget bill.” The Start Strong PA campaign noted that staffing shortages within the child-care sector are driven by low wages. According to the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO), the average child-care teacher in Pennsylvania only earns $15.15 per hour. This wage includes the impact of one-time federal child care stimulus funds. With the lack of direct state involvement, it is unclear whether these wages can be sustained, the campaign said. “Child care teachers are the workforce behind the workforce,” the statement said. “When families can’t get child care, their children suffer, their income drops, and the state’s economy is shortchanged. In a time of severe labor shortages and billions in state budget surplus, the commonwealth’s failure to help child care providers recruit and retain these teachers is a tragic outcome.” Recent estimates show that gaps in the child care sector cost the state’s economy $6.65 billion annually in lost wages, productivity, and tax receipts. Start Strong PA pointed out that more than 50 state chambers of commerce have called for investments that directly help child care providers attract and keep teachers. The budget deal includes a tax credit for businesses that help pay employees pay for child care. The credit is a demand-side solution that helps families afford care, but the state must invest in the supply side by stopping the exodus of teachers. “While we appreciate the continued support of existing programs in the state budget, the lack of investment in recruitment and retention initiatives will only continue the trend of short staffing in our programs and teachers leaving the field for higher-paying jobs,” said Karian Wise, the head of school for early learning at the Carlow University Early Learning Center and a Provider Advisory Board member. Pre-K $15 million in additional funding for the state’s Pre-K Counts program to increase rates from $10,000 per child for a full-day slot to $10,500. $2.7 million in additional funding for the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program. In a statement, Pre-K for PA said, “The Pre-K Campaign is relieved to see modest growth in the state’s publicly funded pre-k programs – PA Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program.” Pre-K for PA noted that increases for both programs will make rate increases possible to pre-kindergarten providers to combat inflationary pressures and staffing shortages. However, the campaign noted, “We are disappointed that the increase to PA Pre-K Counts is half of what Gov. Shapiro proposed, and state support for Head Start continues to grow at a slower rate than Pre-K Counts.” Currently, more than 78,000 three- and four-year-olds in Pennsylvania are eligible but do not have access to publicly-funded pre-k programs. Pre-k access has been a top issue for state voters, of whom 95% believe that early education is important and nearly 70% support increasing state funding for pre-k access. “Once again, Pennsylvania has failed to adequately invest in young children and their families,” said Abigail Enz-Doerschner, assistant director of the Once Upon a Time Early Learning Center in Washington and a Provider Advisory Board member. “While the state has offered a $500 per slot increase in PA Pre-K Counts funding, this 5% increase does not keep pace with the rising costs of operating a program. Insurance, utilities, teacher compensation – all of our costs have risen sharply.” Early Intervention $9.1 million increase for the Early Intervention Part C (infant and toddler) through DHS. $32.9 million increase for the Part B Early Intervention program (age three to five) through PDE. The statement noted that while the increase for the Early Intervention Part C reflects the administration’s updated budget request, it does not address broader issues within the program, including worker shortages and a long-needed rate adjustment for providers. Read the full statement by Pre-K for PA and Start Strong PA.
April 9, 2024 Take Action to Fix Child Care In February, Gov. Josh Shapiro released his 2024-25 state budget approval. While the governor mentioned proposed investments in pre-K, evidence-based home visiting, and perinatal and child health, his proposal did not directly address the state’s ongoing child care teacher shortage. To accomplish our goal of keeping classrooms open and staffed, we need supporters to send a message to the General Assembly and the governor, telling them to fix child care in the 2024-25 state budget. Details on the Teacher Shortage A September 2023 survey conducted by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s PolicyLab – on behalf of Start Strong PA – provided details on the staffing crisis in 762 of Pennsylvania’s child care programs. The survey found that nearly 26,000 additional children could be served at child care programs if they were fully staffed. Additionally, 2,395 open positions have resulted in the closure of 934 classrooms. Lastly, child care providers’ inability to recruit and retain staff is having a direct impact on the quality of programming. As a result, thousands of families are unable to find the care they need to go to work. Take Action Pennsylvania lawmakers can fix this problem by tackling the child care teacher shortage. They must establish and fund a program that will help providers to better recruit and retain staff. Make your voice heard: Send a message to the General Assembly and the governor. Tell them they must fix child care in the 2024-25 state budget. Get Updates By signing on to Trying Together’s Public Policy Agenda, you’ll receive action alerts to advocate on behalf of young children, their families, and the early care and education professionals who interact with them.
